Finding Yesterday
by Cytisus
Summary: It's been one and a half years since Dragaunus was defeated. With the help of Unbridled Technologies, the company's child protégé, and an imprisoned traitor with access to coordinates home, the ducks are close to completing the gateway generator they were forced to sacrifice to save Earth. But finding yesterday isn't always so easy, especially when the past controls the future...
1. Escaping Limbo

_Note: I had snippets of this story sitting around for a long while, and it took me even longer to figure out how to piece it all together. Hard to believe I've been writing stories for this fandom for over 20 years, and somehow still enjoy the heck out of it. :D_

_I sort of pulled from my other stories, so to help set the foundation:_

_Puckworld year/revolution = 1.5 years on Earth, approximately_

_Old Ways Worshippers = Ducks trained in Wraith's magical abilities; like a cult_

_PIA = Puckworld Intelligence Agency_

_No OCs, with M/W and eventual D/T thrown in. Maybe even a little L/F if you squint. And yes, I am very happy in my little corner of this crazy world. _

* * *

_(Previously, from "Wisdom")_

_Anaheim, California – present day_

There was a loud _BANG_, followed by a huge gust of wind. Vivid colors swirled in front of the large form, sending his cape billowing towards it.

He kept himself grounded, however, watching the scene unfold carefully. Long minutes passed, the vortex in front of him continuing to swirl like a psychedelic hallucination. Eventually a lone figure emerged, seemingly walking on air within the colorful tunnel.

The vortex narrowed as soon as the figure managed to pass through, the accompanying heavy winds dying down and its beautiful colors disappearing into the dark gray atmosphere of the dilapidated warehouse they were left in.

"So lovely to see you, my dear," Falcone stated, his arms crossed in front of him. His cape, no longer flying freely from the dimensional gateway, only subtly moved from the stale air of the desert night.

Despite the ocean breeze that occasionally wafted through, the dry heat remained and had turned the tourist city into an oven for the summer.

Lucretia DeCoy, looking slightly disheveled, glanced up at him and back to the remote device in her hand. She dropped it quickly, almost as if the controller had suddenly burst into flames. "Where … where am I?" she hoarsely asked.

Falcone smiled, walking up to her. She instinctively backed away from him, however, her eyes darting about. Realizing her anxiety, Falcone put his hands up innocently. "There there, my darling. You remember me, yes? Ernie Falcone of the Brotherhood of the Blade? We met briefly during the War, after you had taken down PIA."

Lucretia watched him apprehensively, but his words did seem to register as her expression slowly changed. "What happened?" she finally questioned, returning her observation to the partially demolished building.

"You were brought here by Dragaunus, as was I. From what I read in the logs, it seems Wildwing played you for a fool and made Dragaunus think you had betrayed him. He sent you to Dimensional Limbo. Ringing some bells in that cute little head of yours?"

Lucretia eyed the Raptrin as he spoke, her guard up despite being confused. When he finished she looked away, thinking.

"Yes," she ultimately answered. "The proteus chip." Falcone was next to her now and she peered up at him suspiciously. "How'd you get me out of there?"

Falcone's smile broadened, his arm gently reaching out to wrap around the female duck's thin shoulders. "We have a lot to catch up on, my dear. Please, let us get you somewhere nice to clean up and I'll tell you all about it."

The Raptrin guided them out of the barren warehouse, only briefly stopping to pick up the remote device Lucretia had dropped. The female let him guide her, her arms wrapping around herself as she readjusted to her new surroundings.

* * *

_Puckworld – four months into the Saurian War_

The mirror case snapped closed with a flip of her wrist, her other hand brushing fingers through her bouncy purple hair. A heavy black jacket cloaked her upper body, but her thick pink pants hugged her legs like glue. Tall purple boots completed the edgy look, and happened to give the tan-feathered duck a big boost in height.

Lucretia DeCoy had no intention of letting her appearance flounder just because of a silly war.

She let out a breathy harrumph, followed by a quick but studious observation of her surroundings, and after a couple seconds the petite female grinned coyly.

Despite the rather desolate appearance of the alley she stood in, Lucretia sweetly called out, "Mister, it's not nice to sneak up on a lady."

There was a pause in the air, before the intruder chuckled lightly and stepped out of the shadows that Lucretia was intently watching. "From what I've heard, dear, you are not just _any_ lady."

Her smooth smile did not falter. "Is that so?" she evenly asked.

The silhouette approached her, and eventually the dismal light from the smoggy sky revealed a male Raptrin, his hooked beak partially masking his own wicked grin. He was tall, nearly two heads taller than Lucretia, with two-tone brown feathers and dark, calculating eyes. His feathers were preened to perfection despite the surrounding environment, and his black pants and long-sleeved shirt had a heavy red cape attached to it via a large brooch. One could arguably say it was for warmth—the weather was a brisk -20 Celsius on a good day in the remnants of DuCaine Metropolis—but Lucretia recognized the purple and gold insignia of the pendant in an instant.

This Raptrin was not just a Brotherhood of the Blade member, but a part of the royal ancestry tied to it: a blood relative of the first Brothers that formed the guild centuries ago.

Of course, in Lucretia's eyes, that just made him a spoiled brat.

He did not immediately respond to the female duck, instead sizing her up with a long, hard stare. He made a point to roam his eyes along the entire length of her body, his brows raising appreciatively as his gaze made its way to back to hers.

"I will say, the rumor mill did not do your beauty justice."

"Hmm," she responded, her arms lightly crossed over herself. Her head tilted as she looked up at him. "And what little rumor is that?"

"Oh, you know, just that you're a seductress, and a traitor to all duck-kind."

"So dramatic."

"Tell me, love, do you hate all ducks, or are Raptrins on your 'Nice' list?"

She let her eyes innocently glance around the dilapidated buildings they stood between. "Who says I hate anybody?"

"Well, the PIA might have a vote in that. And the Resistance, to boot—at least, what's left of them."

As he crossed his own arms, Lucretia kept her expression neutral, taking the opportunity to walk down the alley. The Raptrin watched her and waited a few seconds before following. The female reached an intersection perpendicular to the one they were in, and carefully checked the crossway before continuing on.

"I have no ties to the Resistance, one way or the other," she finally replied, her pace slow but deliberate. "And I certainly don't hate anyone … not anymore."

"It does seem that, like a big girl, you've taken care of that problem all on your own. Well, maybe with a little teensy help from some lizards, yes?"

Another intersection bifurcated their path, causing the female to pause in her travelling. She gave her company a brief but poignant look.

"Oh DuCaine," he exclaimed overdramatically, "please tell me you're not a magic druggie?"

Lucretia scoffed at the derogatory term used to describe Old Ways Worshippers. "Don't insult me, Raptrin. I have better use of my time and skills then to become hopelessly addicted to magic and wrinkled old Saurians."

"It's Falcone, love, and please do enlighten me then, as to why I should trust a traitor with no motivation one way or the other?"

She slowed to a stop, Falcone standing uncomfortably close to her, and clearly on purpose. She did not move, however, and instead blinked up at him alluringly, one of her hands slipping under his cape to grab his hip. "I'm no traitor to Puckworld, Mr. Falcone. But when it comes to my contract with Lord Dragaunus, I assure you that I took the lesser of two evils."

He did not outwardly respond to her touch, but his brows raised at her statement. "Hell hath no fury like a lady scorned?"

She took a deep breath, her eye contact with the Raptrin never wavering. "Something like that."

"And what's to say, then, that Lord Dragaunus doesn't scorn you in the same fashion?"

"I guess he better be on his best behavior then, hmm?"

Falcone smiled at her. "I like you."

Her hand released its hold and patted him. "Well then, now that we have the pleasantries aside, are you ready to make your own contract?" She pushed away from him then, continuing their trek through the empty, broken streets of downtown.

"And what, pray tell, does a contract with Lord Dragaunus entail?"

"It's simple really," Lucretia answered. "You do his bidding."

"In exchange for immunity."

"Yes."

"And do you think he'll hold up his end of the bargain? What happens when Puckworld is fully under his control?"

Lucretia let out a small, perturbed breath, before turning to face Falcone. "Why are you here, then?"

Falcone shrugged. "Survival of the fittest, love."

"What about the Brotherhood?"

"Ha! What Brotherhood, dear? Duke L'Orange has gone topside. His brute of a brother took a handful of the best and escaped. The rest of the guild are either dead, captured, or running."

"Not one of the Blade's best, then?" Lucretia bitingly asked.

Falcone snorted. "More of a mutual displeasure between myself and Colin L'Orange, actually."

"Boys will be boys with their silly swords and jewels, I guess." His look hardened at her comment, but she continued with, "At least I don't have to explain to you that this offer is for you and you alone."

"I'm aware," Falcone answered, his eyes still holding a hint of suspicion. Before she could turn away, the Raptrin grabbed Lucretia's forearm, pulling her close to him again. He bent low, so his beak was centimeters from hers.

"The question remains, however, why a former PIA agent became a spy and a traitor, and sided with the greatest threat Puckworld has ever faced, especially when they're not hopelessly addicted to the Old Ways magic.

"I know a losing fight when I see one, dear, and will do everything in my power to get off this planet. I have a feeling that's how you started this little game of charades, too."

He had whispered forcefully to her, his grip on her arm tight and immovable. "So, unless you're a lizard lover, I have a strong impression that this contract is more of a _vassalage_."

Despite his aggression, she did not fight back. Turning her head so her beak briefly brushed his, she derisively replied, "It sounds like you're picking the lesser of two evils too, honey."

For the first time since their meeting, he looked slightly taken aback by both her actions and statement. He released his hold, enough for her to step back and motion to the nondescript building a block away. "We're here."

Falcone remained silent, his eyes gazing over the building thoroughly. Lucretia smirked at him and started walking towards it.

As she got ahead a few feet, she heard a grumble from the Raptrin, before footsteps finally indicated that he was following. "What have I gotten myself into," he mumbled to himself.

Lucretia's smirk turned into a malicious grin. "Oh, Mr. Falcone—you have _no _idea."

And he really didn't.

* * *

_Anaheim, California – present day_

"Are you trying to tell me you birds have no idea where he is?"

Wildwing sighed. "Klegghorn, if we knew, we'd detain him."

The short police captain was obviously not convinced. His hands were resting on his hips, his long coat nearly brushing against the floor. "They said he's most likely been gone for days."

"We know," Tanya annoyingly responded, typing furiously at the controls to Drake One.

Klegghorn picked up on the attitude instantly. "Look, you beaks, I thought you guys were workin' on gettin' the hell off this planet!"

"Well, between destroying a warship, a warlord and his army, saving Earth, and—oh yeah, rebuilding the machine to actually _get_ us home—we've been a little preoccupied, Kleggy," Nosedive chimed in, leaning against the console next to Tanya.

"Good for you. Meanwhile, I've got the FBI breathing down my neck because they think he'll be heading after you guys, and the Brits breathing down THEIR necks because they think you're trying to make a clean exit without holding up your end of the bargain!" The middle-aged man rubbed his nose frustratingly, already walking towards the elevator that led up to the ice rink. "I don't know what sort of agreement you made between these guys, but I suggest you straighten it out soon. They're a stone's throw away from bringing their own army into Anaheim, and I guarantee you I will open the door to the Pond myself if it means gettin' them outta my hair."

"Great workin' with ya as usual, cap," Nosedive sarcastically replied.

The captain simply glared in response before the elevator doors shut.

"All right Tanya, what do you have?" Wildwing asked, walking up to the computer.

"Honestly, uh, not much," Tanya sighed out. "Falcone definitely made some, uh, friends while he was imprisoned, to pull t-this off."

"Who?"

"Don't know, yet," she admitted, still pulling up files and skimming them. "Footage isn't helpful in this case."

Wildwing nodded in agreement. "Someone familiar with our tech was able to alter the security feed."

"Not only that, but they somehow hacked into the system to show that someone had already brought Falcone's scheduled meals—for three, maybe four days," Mallory chimed in. "And logged his use in the gym, even though no one remembers chaperoning him there."

"They said it, was, uh, outside work," Tanya added. "The logs prove that th-they were hacked, but uh, the source was untraceable."

"Duke," Wildwing addressed the gray-feathered mallard, "do you think we should go to Britain?"

The ex-thief took the time to think about it, his arms crossed in front of himself as he stood behind Tanya. "No," he finally answered. "He's in Anaheim."

"It doesn't make sense, though," Mallory said. "He knew we were taking him home once we got the gateway device built. Why would he risk that now, when we're so close?"

Still thinking, Duke simply shook his head, his eyes distant as he stared at the information on Drake One's monitor.

"It is kind of weird, being one Puckworld year since we took out Draggy, right?" Nosedive piped up, looking over to Grin, who had remained silent since joining the team for the Drake One alarm. "Think that means anything?"

Grin's brows furrowed in thought, his eyes glancing over to Duke, who briefly made eye contact with the large duck before casually turning away. Grin took a deep breath and looked to Tanya. "These plans started one revolution ago. The pattern is in the past."

Tanya blinked at him blankly for a moment, but before anyone could respond she gasped and turned quickly back to the computer.

"Angel..?" Duke cautiously asked, watching her with curiosity.

"Grin's, uh, right!" Tanya hurriedly explained, pulling up old Drake One log files. "Eight or nine months ago t-there was a break-in at, uh, Unbridled Technologies, remember?"

"I t'ought dhat was some vandalism er something," Duke stated, reading the information on the screen.

"It was," Tanya agreed, opening up another file. "Arson in a nondescript warehouse. They said some lab-made beryllium got, um, damaged."

Mallory walked up to the computer, a frown etching her features. "I thought it was a small amount, though. Not enough to do anything with. Plus, they caught the perpetrators, didn't they?"

"Yeah," Wildwing added, "they were a couple dumb teenagers trying to get initiated into a gang or something."

Tanya nodded. "Right. _But_, before that, about a m-month after we defeated Dragaunus, the gov-government brought up all the, uh, remains of the R-Raptor."

"Nothing happened, though," Nosedive argued. "It was a bunch of useless junk. They took everything and put them in some ware—" the teenager cut himself off, a look of dawning appearing, "house," he finished hoarsely. "Please tell me—"

"Yup, s-same warehouse. Didn't' think a-about it at the time," Tanya said, shaking her head, "because t-this beryllium had been purposely sep-separated into small quantities throughout S-Southern California."

"Unbridled was using government-sanctioned warehouses as a safety precaution," Mallory stated. "They didn't want to keep all the lab-made beryllium together." The redhead paused, her frown from earlier turning into concern. "So the arson was a coverup?"

"Whoa whoa," Duke interjected, his arms slashing the air. "But even if dhey got ahold of some Raptor parts and a tiny bit o' beryllium, it was _scrap metal_. There wasn't enough beryllium lost ta make a gateway. What purpose would stealin' all dhat serve?"

"That … I'm still working on," Tanya acknowledged, her fingers absently drumming against the tabletop portion of Drake One's control panel. "But it can't be a c-coincidence."

"The timing isn't, either," Wildwing added, looking to Mallory. "Mal, you said we were _close_ to having the gateway built."

Mallory, watching him, nodded with only a slight bit of confusion. "Well, yeah. Tanya's been working with Buzz on it for months now since the beryllium production went into full swing … I mean, you know this. Everyone does."

Wildwing shook his head. "We know, yes, and Buzz does. Unbridled knows about the beryllium production, but not even Buzz's close staff know about the gateway device."

Tanya, watching the two speak, interrupted with wide eyes. "We've been working on that under the radar, to keep that kind of, uh, intelligence off the market."

"Right. But now that we're a couple weeks away from testing it, Falcone's conveniently escaped and has seemingly gotten a hold of some Saurian tech and beryllium."

Duke's head jerked up from his train of thought, and he instantly looked over to Mallory. "Mal, get Buzz on the line."

Everyone glanced at the ex-thief's random demand and back over to the redhead. The urgency in his tone made her react immediately, however, and she popped open her wrist unit. "Buzz, it's Mal, you there?"

She waited, but only static returned her call.

"Buzz, it's important. Can you pick up?" Her voice was strained this time around, barely masking panic.

There was nothing in response.

Mallory looked back to Duke with obvious fear in her eyes.

The gray drake cursed to himself before solemnly saying, "Someone's been helpin' Falcone since we took down Dragaunus. An' they planned for d'ose Raptor parts to go in dhat exact warehouse. Dhey knew."

"Knew what?" Nosedive asked.

"They knew we'd be workin' on da gateway three blocks away."

Everyone was silent, the reality of those words sinking in. Mallory turned to Tanya. "Did he ever go there without you?"

Tanya hesitantly nodded. "All the time."

Mallory bolted to the nearby elevators that led to the garage.

"Wait, Mallory!" Wildwing called, but she did not stop. "Dammit," he cursed. "Tanya, stay here with Duke and see if we can't plan Falcone's next move. The rest of us, let's go."

* * *

_Elsewhere in Anaheim, California – present day_

Lucretia was silent as she sipped on hot tea, staring out the window of the motel she and Falcone were in. She was freshly showered and in a comfortable bathrobe, one that Falcone must've purchased outside of this shady place, seeing as though the quality of the room they were in would not be handing out bathrobes freely.

She took a deep breath as nearby car lights flashed along the freeway in the distance, her eyes naturally attracted to the glimmer reflecting through the motel window. The rest of the view was lacking, with only a small side street and dark buildings filling the scenery. She supposed it was necessary, given the recent information Falcone had disclosed to her.

The tiny dining table had two chairs, one of which she occupied, and the other had her clothes and Falcone's cloak draped over it. Along the tabletop were their weapons: Falcone's saber and a few knives, as well as Lucretia's own collection of knives. Neither of them had a puck-launcher, unfortunately, so stealth was of the utmost importance in their next plan of action.

A red T-shaped device caught her eye, making her breath hitch in her throat. The transporter that had sent her to Dimensional Limbo sat on the far edge of the table, its bloodred sheen sending a chill down her spine.

"What do you remember?"

Falcone's voice cut through the quiet like nails on a chalkboard, startling the tan mallard enough to make her jump. He smirked at her reaction, taking a seat in the other dining chair and being careful not to disturb the clothes resting on its backside.

"I'm not amnesic, Ernest."

The male Raptrin, wearing only a sleeveless black shirt and pants, winced. "Darling, I gave you my first name in a show of trust. Please do not actually use it."

Lucretia rolled her eyes.

"Now, if you are willing, I was referring to Dimensional Limbo."

If his voice had been nails on a chalkboard, then those last two words were hand grenades in a closet. Lucretia turned away from her companion, hiding the terror that was surely etched in her expression.

One of Falcone's hands came to rest on top of hers, where she still held the handle of her mug. It was only his touch there that made her realize her hand was trembling.

Eventually she swallowed heavily, her eyes still watching the freeway traffic in the distance. "It was a fate worse than death," she finally whispered.

Silence lingered at that comment, before he quietly asked, "Can you … describe it?"

Her purple hair was damp and did not have its usual bounce, so when she absently took her free hand to brush it, her fingers slowly rung out the excess water. She kept her gaze on the window, her eyes locked on the middle distance and her expression grim.

"Have you ever had a dream that felt so real that—when you woke up—you weren't sure if you were still dreaming?"

Falcone, knowing the question to be rhetorical, stayed silent.

Lucretia took in a shaky breath. "But they weren't dreams, or nightmares. They were memories. Some of them real, but some … some were of the future. Things that have not happened yet." Her hand continued brushing through a small section of her hair, almost neurotically now.

"Then they would change, and they weren't real memories anymore. They were of the past, but something else happened. I made a different decision, or someone else did. I was watching myself do things that I hadn't done."

She suddenly stopped brushing, her expression barely masking the trauma she felt as she looked back to Falcone. "I would occasionally wake up, or at least I thought I did. The dream would end abruptly and a new one would start. There was no order to it. I could never tell what was real and what was not … and before long, I realized none of it was.

"_I_ wasn't real anymore. I was watching myself from the outside. Everything was out of order … what could be; what had happened; what _could _have happened." She closed her eyes briefly when they inadvertently glazed over. "I saw so many different paths that I … I've forgotten a lot of what's true, anymore."

She shakily brought the mug up to her beak with two hands, letting the heat of the ceramic warm her hands before taking a slow sip. Falcone had remained silent, still leaning forward and watching her intently out of the corner of her eye.

When she swallowed the hot liquid and took another deep breath, her eyes peered down at the transporter on the table. "Time was irrelevant. Some memories felt like they lasted seconds, and others felt like years. Occasionally, I would feel … _that_ … in my hands, and it would force me to remember where I was and what had happened."

"It tethered you to reality," Falcone stated, looking at the transporter as well. "It was the only tangible item you could grasp in there."

Lucretia did not immediately respond, instead letting her gaze return to Falcone. He appeared lost in thought, staring at the transporter, but eventually looked back up to meet her eyes. His brow lifted slightly and he smirked.

"Admiring the view?"

Glancing away to return her mug to the table, she leaned forward and rested her forearms upon its surface. "I think it's your turn to answer some questions, now."

The Raptrin grinned, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "By all means, love, ask away."


	2. Red Herring

_Anaheim, California – present day_

The warehouse or—more aptly—the hidden basement below the warehouse, was empty. Wildwing, Nosedive, and Grin had taken the Migrator to check out the area, but it was apparent that this place had been ransacked hours ago, if not longer.

Mallory, who had taken a separate duckcycle before the rest could catch up with her, was nowhere to be found.

The youngest member of the team looked forlornly at the spot that used to house the budding gateway generator. Wildwing must've seen his expression, as he quietly walked up to him and wrapped his arm around Nosedive's shoulders.

"We'll get it back, Dive."

"Sure we will," he said, not sounding even slightly convinced. Looking up at his older brother, he asked, "Do you think Buzz was here, when..?"

The team captain, his expression hidden behind the Drake DuCaine Mask, didn't answer right away. He returned his gaze to the same empty spot, dust and abandoned extension cords the only items left in the device's wake.

Instead of responding, he brought his arm down and opened up his communication link on his forearm. "Mallory, come in."

They both waited, but there was no response.

Sighing, Wildwing closed the connection and reopened it. "Tanya, you there?"

"Y-yeah, we're here."

"This place has been emptied out."

There was a long pause before she asked, "The generator's gone, too?"

Wildwing cringed slightly, and Nosedive couldn't blame him. They all knew how much time and effort the blonde scientist had put into it over the past year. "Yeah, Tanya … I'm sorry."

"It—it doesn't make sense," she finally said, the clicking of typing resuming as background noise. "No alarms were set off. Hold on."

The white drake sighed again, keeping the connection open but letting his arm drop back to his side. Turning around, he saw Grin studying the stairwell that led to the warehouse upstairs.

"Got anything, Grin?" he prompted, walking over to him with Nosedive following.

"The path is narrow and binding."

Nosedive tilted his head as he looked up the stairs. "The road is … long? We're not seeing something?" His hand went to scratch his head. "Or … we're … narrowminded?"

Grin scowled at Nosedive, causing the teenager to sheepishly smile and hold his hands up in resignation. "The stairs are narrow," the pacifist stated more clearly.

The team captain hummed. "The generator wouldn't have fit through it in one piece, you mean."

The large gray duck nodded.

"Oh, you were being literal," Nosedive said. "Fifty fifty chance most days, all right?"

"But isn't that why we think Buzz was taken?" Wildwing countered, ignoring his brother's gripe. "They'd have him to put it back together."

"Yes," Tanya eavesdropped through the COM, "but, uh, it would have taken some time to take it apart carefully."

"So … he had help," Wildwing concluded. "Which means we're looking for someone with a lot of tech know-how."

He heard Tanya hum in agreement. "Have you checked, uh, Buzz's home yet?"

"Heading there now," Wildwing stated, motioning with his hands for Nosedive and Grin to follow. "I think Mallory's already beaten us to the punch, though."

"She's still not answering?"

Wildwing paused. "No," he tersely replied. "Any idea on how they disabled the security here yet?"

"Ch-checking the logs now. H-hold on a second." There was the sound of typing, followed by a pause, and then a short sigh. "Buzz t-turned it off with his pa-passcode."

That made the team captain curse. "So he was either attacked here, or they used him to force their way in. We still don't have any video feeds?"

"We h-have them, but they're, uh, scrambled. Someone went to a lot of, um, work making s-sure of that." She was typing like crazy, now. "I'm checking local cameras, from t-the other buildings in the area, to see, um, if I can't find a-anything."

"All right. Do what you can and keep us updated. Wildwing out."

The three drakes made their way back up through the warehouse, opting to do one last perimeter sweep of the area. Still coming up empty, the team then headed back into the Migrator, with Wildwing taking the wheel. The three ducks were silent through most of the drive to Unbridled Technologies, the loss of their only way home and the potential kidnapping of Buzz keeping everyone either tense, worried, or both.

As they cruised along the freeway, Nosedive cleared his throat a little oddly.

"Hey, bro?"

His older brother glanced over at him briefly, enough to let him know he was listening.

"Everything all right in, uh … paradise?"

"What?"

"You and Mal, dude."

If it weren't for the battlegear, Nosedive would have sworn that Wildwing's feathers bristled at the comment. "Everything's fine, Nosedive." His sight remained fixated on the road ahead.

Nosedive did not respond right away. He watched his brother for a moment, then lifted a skeptical brow in his direction. "Uh-huh," he finally said, turning to look back out the windshield, as well.

The leader let out a lengthy breath, but eventually he stated, "Don't … say anything, all right?" The previous annoyance had dissipated from his tone.

The teenager crossed his heart with his hand, then used a finger to trace the outer edge of his beak, mimicking the motion of zipping it shut. "Drake DuCaine himself wouldn't get a peep out of me."

With his eyes still on the road, and further hidden by the Mask, Wildwing said, "Mallory's been having a few … nightmares, lately."

"Oh?"

"And she doesn't want to talk about them."

Nosedive let out a low hiss, leaning back into his seat. "Bro, I know you want to fix everything, but … sometimes, you just gotta be there."

This time Wildwing did glance over to Nosedive. "You don't think she should open up to me?"

"All right, twisting my words there," Nosedive argued, his feet unceremoniously coming up to rest on the dashboard. "Considering, y'know, the Saurian takeover of our planet, we all got some monsters lurking in our heads. I know I get them—"

"You do?"

Nosedive paused, beak still open and mid-speech, but he quickly shrugged and continued. "Well, yeah. They're not super horrible, but they definitely trigger an insomnia night here and there." Seeing his brother grip the steering wheel tighter, Nosedive shifted in his seat. "I mean, they happen, Wing. We all went through … a lot."

Wildwing's posture did not improve, so Nosedive sat back up, leaning over on the armrest. "Bro, give her some time. Mal's not exactly one to talk about herself, right?" He returned his sights to the road in front of them, as well. "I'm sure she'll come around."

The team captain shook his head slightly. "Maybe," he answered eventually, not sounding entirely optimistic.

"Give yourself some credit, Wing. You've kept this team together this long; I think you can handle some patience with your soon-to-be lifemate."

That managed to get Wildwing to release a breathy chuckle. As he turned the wheel to exit the freeway, he glanced once more at his brother. "When did you learn to become so levelheaded?"

To his benefit, the blonde duck jerked a thumb to the large duck a few seats behind them, currently meditating in his chair with his eyes closed. "Eh, our resident pacifist's propaganda has leached out and set up shop inside my brain, apparently."

"Right is right, even if everyone is against it. …And I am not a leech," Grin levelly commented, not even opening his eyes.

Both brothers snickered at that.

* * *

_Unbridled Technologies headquarters_

Mallory parked her duckcycle next to Buzz's large mansion, her eyes worriedly falling on the EMS parked near the entrance, its lights silently flashing. Her COM buzzed again, but she pressed a button on it to silence it once more.

Taking off her helmet, she jogged over to check the back of the ambulance and saw no one inside. Seeing the front door ajar, she turned and quickly made her way through.

"Buzz?" she called out, pucklauncher drawn and aimed down to the floor. The entranceway was empty, so she took the hallway that she knew would lead her to his bedroom, keeping a close eye on her surroundings for anything out of place.

"BUZZ!" she yelled again, her steps becoming more determined as her voice echoed in the otherwise empty building. Finally turning the corner to his room, Mallory saw Buzz's sliding door partially ajar and pushed it the rest of the way open.

She gasped at what was inside.

It was Buzz's room, or what was left of it. The place had been torn to shreds from laser fire, with comic book pages littering the floor and ashes from the charred mattress splattering the walls. In a panic she searched the room for clues, holstering her weapon and rummaging through the debris with both hands.

The computer along the back wall was utterly destroyed, with streaks of scorch marks jettisoning out every direction. Mallory frowned as she studied it. The markings indicated that the explosion came from the inside out, but … how?

She walked over to the wall adjacent to the door, where a poster had been split with a straight burn across. Feeling the surface behind it, she noticed a small divot, or seam, within the plaster. As her fingers traced its edges, it seemed to be something rectangularly shaped. Her frown deepened, as the drywall itself was undamaged. And yet, the other three walls of the room were scorched to the frame in some places.

Slowly taking in the rest of the room, she realized there were no signs of blood, anywhere. There wasn't any robotic debris for that matter, either. Whatever had happened seemed to have been done without casualties of any kind, which made Mallory's fear subside only slightly.

Instinctively, Mallory opened her COM unit again to contact Buzz, but was greeted with Wildwing's voice instead. "Mallory?" he asked. "You there?" he added when she did not respond.

The redhead sighed. She must've clicked open the incoming call from Wildwing by accident. "I'm here," she finally answered.

"Where are you?"

"Buzz's room. It's trashed. There's … laser marks, and everything's torn up or burned. I'm not seeing any blood though." Her voice sounded strained, despite her best efforts to mask it.

"I think we might have those answers here. We found his guardian, injured—but alive. Meet us in the security room, east wing. Over."

His voice was tense over the static, and Mallory could hear the aggravation in his words. He had every right to be. She was the one pushing him away, and for no reason, either.

He deserved better than this. He was constantly trying to get her to open up to him, and to stop using anger as a mask to hide her feelings. For all of that, what did she offer in return? Nightmares she refused to talk about, outbursts to disguise the fear, and a vicious cycle of empty promises that she would change.

She felt like a fraud.

But it didn't matter right now. She'd deal with it when the time came. Closing the communication link, she took one last look over the area before heading outside and in the direction of the security room.

* * *

"Buzz had created more defenses since the last time, including a self-destruction mechanism for his bedroom. That was why you saw it so trashed," Fritz Manner—Buzz's guardian—explained to the team.

Mallory entered the room during the tail-end of the conversation. She acknowledged Wildwing and the others with a simple head nod, watching as the two medics finished up bandaging the guardian's head wound. It was superficial, at least, requiring no sutures, but it was clear that there was already some swelling to the area.

When Wildwing, Nosedive, and Grin had arrived on the scene, they ended up running into one of the medics retrieving supplies from the ambulance. She was the one that led them to the security room to speak with Fritz.

Per the guardian, he'd been attacked in the hallway by unknown assailants, gotten hit in the head, and had subsequently fallen unconscious. Upon waking, he had contacted Unbridled Technologies' private security firm instead of the true authorities, to keep things under wraps.

Supposedly, contacting the ducks had been the next item on his agenda, after being treated for his injuries.

"What about any security footage?"

"Take a look for yourself. It looks like they jammed the frequency, so I'm afraid there's nothing to see."

"Of course," Mallory grumbled out loud.

"What was Buzz trying to protect?" Wildwing asked Fritz, gearing the conversation back on track.

"The secret project you guys have been working on," Fritz remarked. His hand went up to gingerly touch his bandaged head. "Buzz wouldn't let me know much more than that."

"Nothing else?" Wildwing prompted. "Most of the blueprints for that was on our servers, not his."

"What about the beryllium production?" Mallory interrogated. "That was supposed to stay quiet for another month, until Buzz announced it at that tech convention."

Fritz grimaced slightly. "Well, our last conference in L.A., perhaps … Buzz wasn't with us, but some of the chairmen of the board let it slip that we had this revolutionary idea at our fingertips."

Mallory glowered at him. "Great, so anybody could've taken him for the info."

"Can you give us any leads?" Wildwing asked. "Names or companies that were at this conference?"

Fritz, still holding one of his hands to his head, used his other to grab his phone from his pocket. He pressed a few buttons and handed it to Wildwing. "This is the itinerary and guest list."

Wildwing took the phone, opening his COM link. "Tanya?"

"I'm here."

"I have Manner's phone here with info on a recent conference. Can you upload it to our network?"

"S-sure, just put the phone close to the COM. I'll use near-field communication to, uh, retrieve it."

Wildwing did as he was told, and seconds later Tanya stated, "Got it."

"Good. Take a look at that list and see if any names or companies stand out. Someone on there gains the most from Buzz's new element."

"Will do. O-over."

Closing the connection, Wildwing returned the phone to Fritz, who took it and quickly pocketed it within his suit jacket. The middle-aged man sighed, leaning back into the security chair he sat in. "Please bring him back safe ... he means a lot to us."

Mallory scoffed. "His _brain_ means a lot to your _company_, you mean. You guys couldn't have cared less about that kid as anything other than your source to wealth and fame."

Fritz frowned at her. "Now see here—"

"If that kid had meant _anything_ to you, we should've found you here maimed or dead from trying to protect him, rather than a pansy ass scratch on your head!" Mallory turned heel and walked out of the security room, back towards the exit.

Nosedive and Grin watched her leave with wide eyes, then returned their attention to Wildwing. After an uncomfortable silence, Wildwing finally said, "We'll let you know if we find anything, Mr. Manner."

Fritz nodded at him. "Our security will do their own investigation, but in a few hours we will have no choice but to bring the authorities into this."

"Do what you have to do, and if you're contacted by the kidnappers, let us know." With that, Wildwing motioned the rest of the team back to the Migrator.

* * *

_The Pond_

Tanya pressed a button on Drake One, closing the connection with Wildwing. She instantly opened the files she'd transferred from Fritz Manner's phone, plugging the information into Drake One's algorithm and adjusting the settings to look for links. As she executed the function, a mug of steaming hot tea was set next to her on the console.

The steam wafted to her nostrils, and the smell of orange zest filled Tanya's senses, instantly calming her.

She smiled at its sudden arrival, tiredly glancing up at the gray mallard that had delivered it. "Thanks, Duke."

"Ya looked like ya could use a pick-me-up," he responded lightly, sitting down in the chair next to her, his own cup of tea in hand.

Tea was a big thing on Puckworld, so finding an equal love of the beverage on Earth had been a great nostalgic reminder of their home. Since many of the herbs were so different here, they had a multitude of new flavors to experiment with, as well.

Orange zest, however, was one all of the ducks loved. Oranges on Earth were very similar to the Fouge fruit back home, and was also a tea flavor that was used for relaxation. When the team had found it, they had bought out all the nearby stores, since most of them drank tea at least once a day.

Picking up and bringing the hot liquid closer to drink, Tanya hummed agreeably.

"So ... anythin'?" the ex-thief asked, his gaze turning to the behemoth of a monitor before them.

The blonde scientist sighed. "I guess time will, uh, tell."

"What is that?" Duke asked, squinting at the names and numbers flashing on the screen.

"L-list of names and, uh, companies, from a recent c-convention. Drake One is running them against our records, to see if—ya know—it can give us any leads."

Duke nodded at that, his gaze eventually travelling back to the console of the large computer mainframe. Tanya watched him carefully.

"Duke?"

"Hmm?" he asked, glancing briefly at her.

"Everything, uh, all right?"

He did not answer right away, instead taking a sip of his own hot brew. "It doesn't add up," he finally responded.

She tilted her head at him. "Uh, what doesn't?"

"Falcone." The gray mallard sighed, straightening back up in his chair. "We're missin' somethin'," he added quietly.

"Well, sure. We d-don' know who he's working with. Or, uh, who he's working f-for," Tanya admitted.

Duke shook his head. "Nah, Angel, there's more ta it d'an d'hat." Placing his cup on the console, he stood and began to slowly pace. "He 'ad a way home, through us, an' he threw it away." His arms were crossed in front of him as he thought, Tanya occasionally glancing between him and Drake One as it ran its algorithm.

"Taunny, ya sure d'hey can't use d'hat beryllium?"

She nodded in confirmation. "You need four times w-what was, um, lost to create a c-con—link between two worlds, at least." Taking a second to type some commands on Drake One, she continued, "I mean, beryllium is a good, y'know, power source. M-maybe he's using it to power some new weapon?"

The older drake had resumed pacing, but did say, "Meybe," to her suggestion. "But d'here's a piece of da puzzle we're missin', I'm sure of it."

Tanya watched him for a moment, thinking. Eventually she turned back, crossing her arms and resting them along the edge of the console. She glanced down at the steam rising from her tea, dissipating into the air.

A beep from Drake One startled both of them, and brought Duke up behind Tanya's chair as she started typing furiously. "What is it?" he finally prompted.

Tanya was scrolling through a bunch of information quickly, her eyes widening. She glanced back up at Duke. "I know who took Buzz."


	3. Spread Thin

_Unbridled Technologies headquarters_

"Mallory!"

The redhead let out a disgruntled breath at the name call. She finished snapping her helmet on and went to mount her duckcycle.

A hand on her forearm—gentle but firm—stopped her, and she pulled away from the touch angrily. "What?" she icily asked.

Wildwing's expression was neutral, thanks to the Mask, but his tone was sharp. "Antagonizing our only lead is _not_ a good way to find Buzz, Mallory."

She had been prepared for the lecture, however, and argued back immediately. "That man has 'creep' written all over him, Wildwing. They don't care about Buzz—they never have. That kid's nothing more than a tool to them, and I'm sorry if that pisses me off."

Wildwing sighed. "Look, you're probably right, but we need Fritz to _want_ us to find Buzz, which means you have to keep comments like you made to yourself."

Mallory's eyes flashed hot with anger. "We should've never allowed that company to keep custody of Buzz the way that they have. He needs a family and a stable environment, not a manager ready to pick his bones." She crossed her arms defiantly. "Living like you're a slave, never being treated with respect, and without any sort of guidance, or support, or care, or..." Mallory stopped her rambling, her fury making it hard to form coherent sentences.

"Are we talking about Buzz or you, now?"

Mallory's eyes no longer flashed with anger, but roared. "Don't you dare make this about me! You know _nothing _about my past!"

Wildwing's own irritation began to boil, as well. "You're right, I don't, because you don't tell me _anything _about it! No matter how many times I tell you that I'm here for you, you'd rather let it fester inside and hide yourself behind this ugly mask of anger all the time!"

Mallory was taken aback by Wildwing's outburst and she didn't respond right away.

"I'm worried about Buzz, too. And I'm sorry I kept asking you about your nightmares. I just want to be there for you, but you won't _let_ me. You'd rather bury it along with Drake knows what else you've kept from me, and the more you do it the more I realize that maybe you're just not ready..." Wildwing's sentence faltered near the end, the anger in his voice subsiding.

He didn't finish the thought, and Mallory barely found her voice to ask, "Not ready for what?"

Wildwing let out a long breath, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. "This. ...Us."

Her breath caught in her throat. "What ... what are you saying?"

Wildwing shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying." He groaned in frustration, running his hand through the feathers on his head. "I don't know what else I can do to make you trust me, Mallory."

Wildwing's COM buzzed, stopping the conversation from going any further. The white drake gave one last glance at Mallory, but she opted to remain silent. He sighed and flipped the device open.

"What is it, Tanya?"

"Drake One, uh, background checked all of the conference a-atten—uh, patrons, and found one that stood out. A new up-and-coming company, called Adder Telecommunications, is working heavily in large-scale machine innovations. And, uh—he's changed his name, but you'd never guess who the brain behind this place is."

"Who?" Wildwing prompted.

"He goes by Finn Persent now, but we knew him as Phineas Viper."

The team captain let out a low curse, glancing up to see Mallory frowning and silently listening to the conversation. "Do we have the location of his new enterprise?" he asked.

"Uh, yup. I'm uploading it to the network now."

The revving of a bike brought Wildwing's attention back to the duck in front of him, but Mallory peeled out of the driveway before he could even call after her. He let out an aggravated yell, turning around to see Nosedive and Grin jog up to him from the Migrator. "Tanya, you and Duke meet us there."

"Uh, copy that."

Wildwing snapped his COM shut roughly, but it instantly buzzed again. "Yeah?" he brusquely asked.

"Don't give me that attitude, birdbrain! I'm the one doing yer damn job over here!"

That made the team captain inwardly groan. "What is it, Klegghorn?" he asked more civilly.

"That's right," the police captain agreed, hearing the change of tone. "Now, if you'd be so kind, please come and pick up your eagle friend over here!"

_"Eagle? My word, what in the world are you insulting me with, captain?"_

"Your _bald-ass _ head! Now take a word of advice and REMAIN SILENT!"

Nosedive and Grin shot a surprised glance at each other before looking back to Wildwing. "They caught … Falcone?"

"We'll be right there," Wildwing simply said, snapping the connection closed. He opened it back up. "Tanya, come in."

"On our way now."

"Change of plans. Klegghorn has Falcone at the police station. I need you and Duke to appertain him and keep him under lockdown."

There was a long silence before Duke spoke through Tanya's device. "Wing, it's gotta be a trap. Falcone didn't just get _caught_ by Klegghorn."

Wildwing had already motioned for Grin and Nosedive to hurry back into the Migrator, the team leader taking up the rear. "I know, Duke, but we don't have a choice on this. Mallory's going after Viper herself, and if he does have Buzz, then we might not have much time."

He could hear Duke mumble something away from the speaker, but eventually received a, "Copy that. Be careful, Wing."

"Likewise." Wildwing shut the connection, jumping into the driver's seat of the Migrator and gunning it out of the long driveway of the mansion. He pressed a couple buttons on the dashboard, bringing up a small map on the screen directing them to their next location.

"I know this is Buzz and all, but Mal's kinda gone off the deep-end here," Nosedive commented, watching the screen to see when the next turn was.

"Dive," Wildwing warned.

Nosedive looked at his brother and shrugged as if to say, "Who? Me?" but he kept quiet.

"A single twig breaks, but a bundle of twigs is strong," Grin chimed in, sitting quietly behind the brothers.

The information was digested in silence, before Nosedive's eye lit up and a hand shot up in the air. "Oh, I know what you're saying, and I am so going to one-up you, dude." He cleared his throat, and put on a gravelly voice as he continued with, "I feel thin … stretched. Like butter scraped over too much bread." Nosedive sat back triumphantly.

Wildwing raised a brow at his kid brother.

"Lord of the Rings, duh," Nosedive answered his unasked question. "And Grin is right; we're stronger as a team, not so much on our own."

"Indeed," Grin simply agreed.

The team captain shook his head. "I can't control her actions, Dive, or Falcone's for that matter, either. We have to make the best of it."

Neither Nosedive nor Grin responded to that, silence returning to the vehicle as they sped along the freeway. Wildwing gripped the steering wheel tightly, his own fear rising steadily as his thoughts and worries began to consume him.

* * *

_Puckworld – four months into the Saurian War_

Lucretia and Falcone entered the building along the desolate street, or at least what remained of it. Aside from four walls and a partially-standing roof, only ice and snow covered its interior, a bitter draft flowing through its bleak cavity.

Falcone swallowed any signs of fear, following the purple-haired vixen through the mess and towards the back, where stairs led down into an underground level.

"Doesn't seem like headquarter material," he commented into the silence.

Lucretia turned her head as they descended the stairs, offering Falcone a small smile and nothing else.

The basement's structure had seemed to hold up better than upstairs, with the residual warmth of underground making the room slightly less miserable. Falcone looked around at the empty shelves, cabinets, and toppled furniture, his arms crossing in front of him as he stood in its center.

"Underwhelmed here, love," he said again.

She came up behind him, then, her arm running across the width of his back as she stepped around his rigid form. She turned around to face Falcone, her hand briefly coming up to brush the side of his beak, before slowly taking a step back. "Check your pocket," she stated with a smirk, turning around once more and walking away.

The Raptrin instantly felt his pants pocket, noticing a new item inside. Pulling it out, a small curved device rested in his palm, bloodred except for a small black side screen with green foreign characters on it. He studied it for a moment, turning it around in his hand and brushing a finger against the single sharp point along its edge.

"Didn't realize pickpocket was on your list of skills," he replied to her. "You would have made great Brotherhood material."

"Minus the 'brother' part?" she lightly debated, finishing her walk to the other side of the basement. With her arms crossed and facing him once more, she nodded towards the device in his hands. "Place your finger on the point."

Falcone, still turning the device around in his hand, raised a suspicious brow at her but did as he was told.

"Press down," she instructed.

"All right, but care to tell me why—_agh_!" Falcone nearly dropped the contraption when it shot out a small needle and punctured him. "It _bit_ me!" he accused.

The black screen lit up with more green characters, scrolling across its length at a considerable speed before suddenly stopping. The Raptrin tossed the item into his other hand, allowing himself time to examine the drop of blood on his finger. He frowned at Lucretia.

"Now what?"

Lucretia let out a low chuckle. "_Now_ you have your way off the planet, Mr. Falcone."

He incredulously looked down at the red gadget. "This tiny little contraption is … a _transporter_?"

"Not just any transporter, honey," Lucretia insisted, keeping her distance from the Raptrin. "It's linked to you and only you." She paused, her smile crooked this time. "Happy travels."

"What—?"

The transporter beeped and a swirling vortex suddenly formed between the two ducks. Falcone brought his hand up to shield himself from the intense pull he felt, but was unable to stop the pathway from enveloping him whole.

He fell to the ground, the transporter skittering across the metal surface of a room that matched its bloodred sheen. In a blink the vortex was gone, and Falcone was left in some sort of warship.

Two large Saurian feet stepped in front of him, heavy silver armor covering the legs and ending around the ankles. The lizard's thick yellow claws tapped rhythmically against the metal floor and, just behind the feet, a thick red-skinned tail swished in agitation.

Falcone swallowed heavily, forcing his breathing to calm down. When he finally found the courage, he looked up to meet the eyes of the very Overlord that had started the Saurian War; the one who had broken his own kin out of their dimensional prison, and now enslaved over half the population of Puckworld.

"Dragaunus," he breathed out.

* * *

_Anaheim, California – present day_

Duke and Tanya walked into the Anaheim police station determinedly, and only earned a few double glances as they passed the booking station. Reaching the back of the building where the holding cells were located, Klegghorn sat on a stool in front of the jail in the farthest corner, munching on a donut while downright sneering at the cell's inhabitant.

Coming up next to him, they peered through the bars and saw Falcone, hands cuffed in front of him. The Raptrin had a look of disgust on his face as he stared back at the captain, but when his gaze shifted to Duke and Tanya, he gave them a huge smile of relief.

"Oh, my, aren't you two a sight for sore eyes!" He stood up, motioning with his head towards the short police captain. "If you ever need a good diet regimen, please watch this bozo eat a baked good." He shuddered dramatically, and Klegghorn in turn rolled his eyes.

"Where'd you find him?" Duke asked, not responding to Falcone directly.

Klegghorn snorted, donut crumbs flying every direction. "He was in some neighborhood park—which, by the way, is not a smart thing to do when ya got a lot of paranoid parents around, considering he looks like some sort of creeper in a costume—"

Falcone sighed loudly.

Klegghorn glared at him, but pulled out a small plastic bag, "—but he evaded arrest when we found him. So, I _guess_," he spit out, glaring at the Raptrin, "even with my _undying _love for _donuts_, my chasing skills are still up to par." He smugly grinned.

At some point during his talking, Tanya had slowly reached out and grabbed the plastic bag, staring in shock at its contents.

It was Falcone's transporter.

Or, what was left of it.

"What … what _happened_?" Tanya practically whispered, Duke looking over her shoulder to see the pieces of metal and broken circuit boards splayed out within the clear plastic.

Klegghorn, not catching on to her change in demeanor, shrugged. "Some doohickey he was holding. He says we broke it, but I'm pretty sure his feathery ass stepped on it."

"When you tackled me like some sort of street criminal," Falcone haughtily replied. He looked over to Tanya and Duke. "But this lovely lady is smarter than the lot of this planet's brain power combined. I'm sure she could pull the necessary information we need from it, yes?"

Duke shot Falcone a fierce gaze, but startled when Tanya turned heel and walked out of the room. "Tanya!" he called. He instantly followed her, interrupting Klegghorn's surprised calls with, "Keep yer shirt on, captain, we'll be right back!"

The ex-thief jogged back to the main offices, frowning when he couldn't find his teammate. He stopped in the center of the room and was about to continue to the front exit when, from his left, he heard a soft click. Looking in that direction, he saw a side exit door and went through it.

The door appeared to lead to some sort of covered parking lot for the majority of police-sanctioned vehicles. Searching both directions, he saw Tanya leaning against the exterior wall, near the corner of the building.

"Tanya?" he hesitantly called, walking up to her.

"It's … it's over," she brokenly responded, staring at the baggy of broken electronics. "We're stuck here, for-forever."

"Hey, come on now, ya know that's not true—" He stopped his own sentence when he saw the tears forming in the blonde duck's eyes. His hands came up to rest on her shoulders. "Tanya, look at me."

She sniffed, obviously trying to regain her composure. Duke tilted his own head down and to the side, forcing her to make eye contact with him.

"We're gonna get home," Duke reassured her.

"I _can't_ fix this," Tanya exclaimed with a hiccup, jostling the broken transporter in her hand for emphasis.

"I promise ya, Angel, that isn't the only transporter with coordinates to home." Tanya looked ready to rebuff his statement, but Duke continued with, "Falcone didn't just break outta jail and travel back ta Anaheim to get caught and destroy 'is only way home, too. He's brewin' somethin', somethin' big, and d'is is a ploy."

The scientist was quiet as she digested that information. Another sniff escaped, and she absently rubbed under her eyes with her free hand to wipe away the tears. "I'm s-sorry, it's just, t-the generator is gone, Buzz m-might be in big t-trouble, and n-now our coor—coordinates home are crunched."

"Well ... yeah. Okay, maybe not one o' our better days."

Tanya smirked at that, causing Duke to smirk as well. "Come 'ere," he said, pulling the blonde duck into a hug. She returned it gratefully, her head resting just under the crook of his neck with her height.

"We're gonna get 'ome," Duke reiterated. "I promise ya." He grinned a little and cheekily added, "Just like I promise ya d'at, one o' d'ese days, I'll get ya to say yes to that date."

"_Duke_," she chastised, but there was only a hint of annoyance in her exasperation. She didn't say anything more, but instead tightened the grip on her hug.

They both heard the nearby door swing open, however, and Tanya pushed away from the embrace quickly. Duke grinned even more at her obvious embarrassment, before turning his attention to the new arrival. Klegghorn stomped out, his head darting in each direction before his eyes fell on the two ducks. "This isn't a daycare, birds!" he yelled, walking their way. "Take this thief and get outta 'ere before the FBI gets wind that he's here."

"D'ey don't know?" Duke asked, sharing a surprised glance with Tanya.

"Of course they _don't_," Klegghorn patronized. "You think they'd let me release him to ya if they did?!"

He ushered them back through the door, leading the way back to the cells. When they got there, Falcone was being escorted out of the cell by three guards, his cuffs still on. The Raptrin gave a charming smile to the two ducks upon their arrival.

"My entourage has returned!" he declared presumptuously.

"Why are you helping us?" Tanya asked the police captain, watching as the guards helped Duke switch Falcone's cuffs out with one of the ducks' own specialized restraints.

Klegghorn crossed his arms, monitoring the situation carefully. "Is the plan for y'all to get the hell off my planet?"

Tanya turned her attention to him. "Um, well, yeah—"

"And you'll be taking this crooked beak with you?" he interrupted.

Falcone sent an insulted expression their way, but Tanya simply replied, "Yes."

"Good. Then let's not let a bunch o' red tape stop that from happening." Once the handcuffs had been switched out, he led the three Puckworldians back to the station's front entrance. As they mounted their duckcycles, with Falcone being seated behind Duke, he added, "The next time I see you birdbrains, it better be to say _sayonara_!"

He stalked back into the building, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Lovely fella," Falcone remarked.

No one responded to him. The Raptrin jolted as the bike accelerated out of the parking lot, and he quickly used his cuffed hands to grasp Duke's shirt for stability. With Tanya following, the three made their way back towards the Pond.


	4. The Ferryman of War

_Santa Ana, California – present day_

Mallory pulled up to an alley, about a block away from the green blip on her duckcycle's monitor. She switched off the engine and quickly took the rest of the trip on foot. It was dark out, but traffic was still pretty steady throughout downtown.

The building itself was unremarkable, but it had a large fence around its spacious perimeter, leaving only one way in and out.

At least, that was what they led you to believe.

Mallory bypassed the main entrance, where two guards were posted in a well-lit area. She stayed back away from the glow of the street lamps and circled around to the rear of the building.

Sure enough, there was another, albeit smaller, entrance for shipments. It too was well-lit, however, and had a guard posted on duty.

Mallory looked up and noticed a few patios dispersed among the levels of the twenty-story building. Making a quick calculation in her head, she turned and made her way into the smaller building across the street from Adder Telecommunications.

* * *

_The Pond_

"Oh, just like home sweet home," Falcone facetiously commented, walking around the new cell he found himself in and pretending to admire it. "This one is so much larger, too—fantastic!"

Secured in the ducks' temporary containment along the lowest level, Duke and Tanya stepped out of earshot of the cell, but made sure to stay close enough to where they could see Falcone. Neither responded to his quips.

"He shouldn't be left a-alone," Tanya emphasized, her arms crossing over herself.

"I'll stay," Duke agreed. "I need to figure out what 'is game is, 'nyways."

Tanya looked worried, however, and fully turned to the ex-thief. "But y-you said this was a trap," she argued. "Is that, uh, a good idea?"

Duke brought an arm to her shoulder. "Angel, we don't gotta choice. If he is workin' with Viper, d'en we 'ave do what we can to 'elp da others."

The blonde duck sighed, glancing back down at the bag of broken transporter parts still in her hand. "I guess I'll see if, uh, miracles do exist, and extract what I can."

Out of the corner of his eye, Duke saw that Falcone had walked up to the edge of the cell and was watching them through the force field. He smiled ruefully in their direction.

The gray mallard glared at him, causing Tanya to frown and turn to look at the prisoner, as well.

"You know," Falcone called over to them loudly, "you two make a lovely couple."

"See what ya can do, Angel," Duke said to Tanya, ignoring Falcone's words but never taking his eyes off the Raptrin. "I'll deal with 'im."

Tanya still did not look convinced, but she nodded and walked down the hallway to her laboratory. Duke watched her leave, waiting until the scientist had fully entered the nearby room with the door hissing shut behind her.

"Ah, alone at long last," Falcone commented, his hands intertwining together. He brought them up next to his face like he was besotted with the ex-thief.

Duke crossed his arms, his stare unwavering. "We know Viper is in on d'is," he said evenly. "What did he promise ya d'hat was worth riskin' yer way home?"

Falcone was silent, though, and the two Brotherhood members simply stared at one another. A long, rocky history between the pair managed to—some extent—keep most of their communication with one another wordless.

Eventually, however, the Raprin smiled. "You know, you and I didn't talk much after our first rendezvous on this beakless planet." Avoiding Duke's question entirely, he instead stepped back and slowly took in his cell. "You knew Dragaunus brought me here, of course, but … did you ever ask yourself why that was?" He stopped, glancing once more at the gray mallard.

"I assumed d'hat's where ya went durin' da war," Duke admitted honestly. "You always looked out fer number one, didn't ya?"

"But of course, ol' lad," Falcone agreed. "When your choices are a Resistance ran by the Council, living in an apocalyptic world with no resources, or being captured and enslaved, one must make a, hmm … an alternative path." His hand started to trace the wall gently as he walked.

"You betrayed yer own to be a slave to Dragaunus. Sounds like ya picked option three ta me," Duke debated, staying stark still as he studied the Raptrin. An uneasy feeling began to settle into the ex-thief, however, and his senses suddenly went on high alert.

Falcone chuckled. "You're not entirely wrong, my old friend. Sacrifices were inevitable." He continued tracing the walls, his eyes almost searching the interior of his containment. "I did a lot of things I'm not proud of."

"I'm shocked. Really," Duke deadpanned.

"Oh, but you don't understand," the Raptrin quipped back, his gaze returning to Duke. "There was no turning back from a contract with Dragaunus."

"I don't doubt d'hat," the gray mallard stated, "but you made yer choice." A noise, small but noticeable, distracted him for only a second. He returned his attention to Falcone and added, "Just like whatever deal you made wit' Viper was."

"Phineas Viper sought me out, actually," Falcone revealed, his arms locking behind his back as he finished making a full perimeter sweep of his jail. He faced Duke, then, standing casually while the gray mallard kept his arms tightly crossed. "I will admit, when we met last year, I had already made my deal with him."

Duke could not hide his sharp intake of breath at that. All the pieces of the puzzle were slowly falling into place, his mind whirling as he tried to maintain composure in front of the Raptrin.

_"When Dragaunus brought me here, I was provided a teleporter with the coordinates back home."_

Falcone _never_ had a working transporter. He had made a pact with Viper and conned Duke.

_"You told me I always had an out!"_

The Brotherhood members had made an agreement years ago: Duke's bionic eye in return for a promise to Falcone … a promise of freedom. Duke had been held accountable for that promise when he visited the Raptrin in Britain's underground detention center, and was indirectly asked to let Falcone escape once they got back on Puckworld.

He believed that Falcone had a working transporter, and he had been prepared to follow through on his end of the bargain, if it meant getting his team back to Puckworld.

The building of the gateway generator went into full swing after that, Falcone's offer inadvertently motivating Tanya and Buzz.

"You look a little pale under the feathers there, Duke," Falcone interrupted the ex-thief's thoughts. "I guess I still have a few primo deceit skills after all, if I was able to stoop the leader of the Blade, yes?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Duke couldn't stop the growl that escaped. "Bravo, Ernie," he said. "Viper gets his gateway generator. That doesn't explain what you got outta d'his deal."

"How did you put it?" Falcone asked, his eyes going up to the ceiling in thought. "Looking out for number one, was it?" He returned his gaze to Duke, grinning maliciously. "It was a very fair deal, I assure you."

A small, almost imperceptible, cursory glance from the Raptrin alerted Duke of another presence in the hallway, but it was too late.

Blinding hot pain seared into the back of his left shoulder, his other hand instinctively coming up to feel that a blade had fully penetrated through his flesh, coming out just below his collar bone. The world was spinning and he fell to his knees, unable to do much else.

With a sickening _swish_, the blade left his body and Duke fell to his stomach. Black boots idly clicked on the hard floor, stopping just by his face. Slowly looking up as the figure squatted down, Duke saw Lucretia DeCoy tilting her head at him.

"Sorry about that, honey," she mocked, "but Mr. Viper was _very_ generous with his snake poison."

The gray mallard could not respond to Lucretia. His entire body was slowly going numb, and his tongue felt heavy in his mouth, enough to where he had to focus to not choke on it. His breathing was strenuous, like his lungs could no longer function without extreme concentration.

Lucretia petted his head briefly before standing back up. "Let's go pay a visit to Ms. Vanderflock, shall we?"

Falcone grinned at her, nodding. Glancing back at Duke he gushed, "Isn't she just _fantastic_?"

* * *

_Santa Ana, California_

Mallory had successfully used the smaller building across the street to rappel to one of the balconies along Adder Telecommunications. And, thanks to picking up a few tricks of the trade from Duke, it didn't take too much work to pick the lock on the door to get inside.

She'd entered somebody's office, and from the looks of the place it seemed pretty genuine. A framed family photo was on the desk, and little knickknacks of memories of the past were scattered across the bookshelves lining the far wall.

That meant that this place was at least _partially_ a true business. Mallory quickly made her way to the main hall beyond another door, keeping an eye out for cameras. She was on level three, and aimed to go up: Tanya had managed to download the original blueprints of the building, and there didn't seem to be any underground levels that could hide Viper's new lair.

She hoped that the upper levels might prove to be more rewarding.

Her COM lightly buzzed again, and she silenced it by pressing a button on the side. She wasn't going to be any help to the team if she got caught, and by now she'd gone too far to wait for them.

The redhead traversed the hallway silently, sticking to the shadows and keeping a hand on her holstered puck-launcher.

Rounding a corner, she quickly backtracked when she saw a guard—his back to her—heading down the same path and most likely doing a routine patrol. She peered around the wall carefully, watching him until he made a turn down another hallway. She took a quiet breath and followed him.

She stopped about midway, however, when she found the door she was looking for. Carefully opening it, a sigh of relief escaped when it did not squeak. Taking a quick glance inside, she entered the stairwell and made her way up.

Mallory managed to make it up to the second highest level of the building, before the stairs stopped suddenly on what looked to be the nineteenth floor. There was no emergency access to the top level nor the roof, and the redhead quickly concluded that was where Viper's new hideout was.

Unfortunately, the only way up would've been the elevator at this point, and that'd be essentially pointing a gun to Mallory's head.

She walked around the level below Viper's presumed headquarters, surprised to not have come across any other guards. This place, like the remaining floors below, were all legitimate offices and labs, it seemed.

Had the top level not been inaccessible by stairs, Mallory would've started thinking that this was a bad lead, after all. But when she peered around a corner she noticed a separate elevator across the way, guarded by two very large, very armed men.

Bingo.

She turned away and looked up. Unlike the other floors of the building, the ceiling here was not suspended with flimsy panels and cheap fluorescent lighting: it was shaped to look like it, but was actually made of a thick metal that glistened in the moonlight.

But like all ceilings, it still had ventilation ducts. Mallory made sure she was well out of earshot of the guards before standing on a desk and hoisting herself up into one.

* * *

"Well, the place ain't lit up like a Christmas tree so that means Mally got in somehow," Nosedive commented, crossing his arms.

Wildwing didn't answer him. They were parked at a reasonable distance down the street, studying the results from the Migrator as it scanned the perimeter of the area. Along with the known schematics of the building that Tanya had uploaded into their system, the scan showed where the guards were currently, at least on the outside.

They would need to get closer, however, for Wildwing to use the Mask and see what was housed inside.

"Silence is not empty. It is full of answers," Grin stated. "Mallory may find those answers faster if we assist in … keeping her silence."

The brothers were quiet. Nosedive looked back at Grin like he'd grown another head, while Wildwing stared at the tall building that supposedly housed Viper's new headquarters.

"Grin … what?"

"A distraction," Wildwing answered for him, his eyes still scouting ahead. He took a deep breath, mulling the idea over. His hand absently went to his COM, and he glanced at it, wishing—not for the first time—that she'd answer his calls.

Nosedive was watching Wildwing, and when the team captain glanced at his kid brother, a silent agreement was made between them. The white drake stood up and switched seats with the teenager, who started the Migrator back up.

"Time to par-tay!" the young duck declared, gunning the engine. With a squeal of tires, the group sped down the street, toward the entrance to Adder Telecommunications.

* * *

_Puckworld – ten months into the Saurian War_

Falcone let out a long breath, watching from the roof of a deserted building as some Resistance members slowly infiltrated a nearby Monitor Tower.

His transporter, attached to his belt, buzzed. He swallowed heavily and hesitantly pulled it out. "Yes, Lord Dragaunus," he said, keeping his voice low. A blizzard was set to make its way through the city in the next few hours, and the calm before the storm had made the area an unnaturally quiet wasteland.

"Where is the traitor," Dragaunus growled through the receiver.

The Raptrin brought his binoculars up, peering through them at the side entrance to the large tower. Debris scattered its perimeter, as the warship itself had blown up multiple commercial buildings before landing in their remnants. A group of figures, heavily cloaked by the dusk of the evening, were slowly making their way inside.

Among them was an Old Ways Worshipper, a spy pretending to be a soldier.

Wraith had already transformed hundreds of ducks to do his bidding over the past year. All it took was a little _persuasion_ in the beginning, usually of the torturous variety, and freshly captured ducks were at the mercy of either death or enslavement by magic.

That magic, of course, came with a hefty price.

"He is leading them to the eastern entrance," Falcone answered his Overlord. He paused, squinting as he carefully watched their movements. "It appears a couple are falling back, most likely to keep watch."

Dragaunus chuckled, and through the receiver it was a vile sound.

"Good," he replied. "Once they are inside, inform the traitor to trigger the alarm on their way out."

"Out, sir?" Falcone asked, perplexed.

There was a snort, enough to where Falcone could instantly visualize the smoke rising from the Saurian's nostrils. "Do _not_ question my intentions, duck. They are here for information, so let them think they are successful. The falsified chemical reaction will destroy their labs, along with everything within a kilometer radius."

"Yes, my Lord," the Raptrin responded quietly.

The line went dead.

Using his transporter, he typed the necessary commands in and executed them. A billow of purple smoke rose up out of the contraption and floated upwards. Falcone calmly watched as it suddenly shot away lightning fast, down towards the Monitor Tower. For anyone not trained in the Old Ways magic, it would be nothing more than a gust of wind. For the traitor below, however, it would be a mental message in his head, with the same instructions Dragaunus had demanded.

A chilly wind caught under his cape, forcing Falcone to pull it tight against him as he hunkered down along the edge of the crumbling rooftop. It had been six long months of coordinating the capture of soldiers and civilians alike, turning them over to Wraith for either execution or Old Ways' initiation, along with the arduous task of sabotaging every planned infiltration of the growing Resistance.

He'd watch so many ducks lose their minds to the dark magic of Wraith's ancestors, slowly destroying them from the inside out the more they used the powers they were hopelessly addicted to.

They were intentionally instructed poorly on how to use their newfound abilities, and in return only lasted a few months before they literally sucked the list bit of energy out of their bodies to perform a spell.

A lucky few would learn how to pull energy from the atmosphere, and more readily from others, as the magic was originally intended to be used. Of course, once the Saurians caught wind of their new understanding, they would quickly bring an end to it.

Falcone let out another long breath, watching as it condensed in the cold atmosphere. He idly wondered where Lucretia was, and if she'd been tasked with these same menial jobs. Despite his best efforts, it was hard not to feel his apathy being slowly chipped away at, as he coordinated the downfall of hundreds—if not thousands—of ducks.

He had hoped that his transporter would have provided him a way to escape both the War and the Saurians. The plan had been to perform a few jobs, become trustworthy in the Saurians' eyes, and then escape at the first opportunity.

But Dragaunus was no fool. The transporter had been linked to him by blood, and might as well have been a ball and chain. If he destroyed it, he'd become a target for every drone on Puckworld.

If he left it somewhere, whether accidentally or intentionally, it would self-destruct, which would make him a target.

And if someone else tried to use it—if they initiated the binding sequence by getting their finger pricked on the device—then Falcone would, once again, be enemy number one.

The transporter listened to him at all times. Breathing even a hint of rebellion to the empty air would trigger an alarm. He had clean amenities and was well fed, but he was just as much a slave as the ones mining beryllium, or the ones drowning in dark rituals and spells.

He supposed he was worse, though, with the amount of ducks he had indirectly—or directly—led to their deaths.

A part of Falcone wanted to be angry at Lucretia, but she was no different than him. He had sought her out, and she had been forced to keep the real meaning of the contract secret. He had ultimately brought this upon himself, and the only way he was going to get out of it was to either steal a spaceship or silently root for the Resistance to bring an end to this War.

Explosions down below captured Falcone's attention. He watched, expressionless, as the group of ducks fought the air drones that were released, and with binoculars was able to see the traitor as he used his magic to betray his own brethren.

The yells and laser shots were painfully sharp in the silent night air. Falcone turned away from the ensuing battle, opting to watch the hazy night sky instead. He would need to make plans to steal a Saurian ship soon.

This War had already been lost long ago.


	5. A Price to Pay

_Santa Ana, California – present day_

It had taken some time going up, as the upper level was a lot farther than appearances dictated from the level below. But Mallory slowly inched up the ventilation duct, using her feet to anchor herself as she shimmied up the narrow access. When she finally reached a T-section, she hauled herself up onto one side of it, catching her breath. She slowly crawled along its length until she found an open grating, the dim light a stark contrast to her pitch black enclosure. Peering through it, she found herself in what looked like a huge viewing chamber. Windows adorned the entire west side of the room, and Mallory realized that they were actually one-way mirrors; in the schematics Tanya had downloaded, the outside building had huge reflecting panels decorating its pointed roof.

The vent she was in was not above the room, but near the floor of the far eastside wall. She could see black metal tile and walls, along with very minimal decor—much like the Raptor.

She supposed Viper had been inspired by Dragaunus' idea of decor.

Mallory hadn't seen anybody for quite some time. She was about to open the vent door when, out of nowhere, Viper materialized from the shadows, staring through the window at downtown Anaheim as if he'd been there for hours.

She froze, afraid to attract attention to herself in the eerily silent chambers. Viper seemed to keep his eyes on the scenic view, but every once in a while he'd turn slightly, listening.

He knew something was amiss.

Doors suddenly opened from out of eye-shot and Viper turned, addressing the visitor.

"Has he complied yet?" he asked.

The visitor, who was wearing a lab coat, came into view and shook his head. "No, sir. The kid's a brat. The files we retrieved from his computer have helped significantly, but he's holding out on some key parts in transferring the data."

"Have you tried forming it in the reactor?"

The scientist nodded. "Twice now. It forms, but the system only holds for miliseconds before collapsing."

Viper turned back to look at the nighttime landscape. "If he is unwilling to cooperate, then please persuade him otherwise."

The scientist, seemingly understanding Viper's vague statement, nodded and retreated from the room.

Mallory growled low to herself, well aware of what "otherwise" could entail. She could not just jump out and attack, however—she needed a plan.

That was when the alarms blared.

* * *

"Stars, you'd think they'd at least hear us out!" Nosedive sarcastically yelled over the gunfire, hiding securely behind one of the Migrator's wheels. "But I guess goons aren't much for _communicado_," he added, standing up long enough to shoot a few stray shots out.

"That's the idea," Wildwing hollered from across the way, hiding behind some debris that _used_ to be the small security tower at the front of the building. "But I gotta say Dive, you definitely know how to make an entrance."

Nosedive looked proud of that remark and smugly shrugged. "Eh, you wanted big and loud and—well, ya got it!"

Grin got up during a break in gunfire and took the opportunity to—literally—heave a piece of the guard tower at some men hiding behind a smaller fence nearer to the building. With a few cries, the guards scattered as the large chunk of stone crashed into the small wall, sending an explosion of concrete everywhere.

Grin and the rest of the team advanced in, leaving the Migrator where Nosedive had "parked" it: right where the security outpost used to be.

As they ran into the high-rise, Wildwing commented, "Dive, when Tanya inevitably finds out, you do know you're helping me repair the damages to the Migrator, right?"

"Aww, come on Bro!"

* * *

"Blasted ducks!" Viper swore. Immediately after the alarms had gone off, Mallory stiffened, unsure on whether she'd been caught. Two guards came in shortly afterwards, however, claiming that three ducks were attacking the entrance.

Viper ordered two of his three teams to defend the area, but wanted the third group to stay on the upper levels as an additional watch.

Mallory frowned. Where was the rest of the team?

It didn't seem to matter. Muffled blasting, through Viper's intercom system, indicated that someone had reached the level below. The man quickly walked over to the speaker attached to the wall nearest the exit, and pressed a button on it.

"Connor!" Viper seethed, "Who's below us?!"

Static answered his question, followed by an out-of-breath man. "Sir, it's the duck's leader and two others. They're loaded with bombs shaped like pucks,"—an explosion echoed in the intercom and throughout the walls of the building—"We need reinforcements!"

"For three ducks?! Where the hell did I hire such twits?! Two dozen of you can't take on three ducks?!"

Connor didn't answer, as more explosions echoed throughout the facility. Viper depressed the speaker on the intercom again. "Team 3 to HQ entrance—_do not let those ducks in here!_"

Viper cursed some choice words for Wildwing and hurriedly exited the main chambers.

Mallory didn't need another cue. She quickly kicked out the vent grate and crawled out of the duct to follow Viper, knowing the scientist and Buzz were back there, as well.

Two ducks were still missing, and she hoped they'd come assist the rest of the team soon.

* * *

"Let me go, you creep!" Buzz yelled at the scientist, who was currently trying to give the boy an injection.

"Hold still, you piece of—"

"Fortaineau!" Viper hissed, entering the lab. "Take the boy and—"

The scientist and kid both looked up at Viper's entrance, but the scientist widened his eyes at what he saw. "Phineas, behind you!"

Before Viper could look, Mallory had jumped, grabbed the top of the doorframe, and dropkicked the man, sending him flying across the floor and into a table of glass beakers and cylinders. They tipped and shattered over Viper, who laid unmoving.

Mallory landed and instantly had her puck-launcher trained on Fortaineau. "Drop the needle and untie him, NOW."

Fortaineau let the syringe fall to the floor, bringing his hands up in surrender. He was older than Viper, and far weaker-looking. His crooked nose and brown greasy hair made him appear more contemptible than Viper, too, which was definitely saying something.

"UNTIE HIM!" she yelled again when the scientist made no move to do so.

"Oh, right, right," Fortaineau said, quickly undoing the rope holding Buzz to a chair. Once free, the boy bounded over to Mallory, hugging her.

"Mallory!" he exclaimed, looking near the brink of tears as he adjusted his thick-rimmed glasses.

Mallory kept her gun trained on Fortaineau, but used her other hand to hug Buzz back. "You okay, kiddo?"

"Yeah," he said as he let go of her, turning to look at Viper. His eyes widened in fear.

"Mal, he's—"

Shots rang out, and before Buzz knew it he'd been pushed out of the lab and into the hallway, Mallory in front of him and firing back. She had shoved Buzz around to the safety of the wall, before carefully peering around the corner and back into the room.

"Are you ok?" she asked again, keeping her eyes and firearm locked on the two men still inside the lab.

Buzz looked down at his t-shirt and shorts, surprised to be unscathed. He even felt his head to make sure nothing seemed out of place. "Yeah."

Mallory fired her puck-launcher and ducked her head back behind the wall when return shots were sent through the doorway. "Good. Head downstairs—the others are here, go find them!"

Buzz, still shocked at how quickly the last few seconds had transpired, shook the cobwebs out of his head. "What about you?!"

"I'll be fine, I'm gonna hold them back!" Mallory reinforced her statement by firing a few more rounds into the room. "GO!"

Buzz only hesitated briefly before making his way down the hall.

Mallory watched Buzz out of the corner of her eye, waiting until he disappeared around the corner. She fired again and hurriedly reached for her belt to reload.

The shots from inside the lab stopped and she braved a peek inside to see the two men retreating farther back, towards another room.

Mallory finished reloading her gun and moved her hand to the side of her stomach. When she brought it back up, fresh blood dripped down her gloves.

She bit down a surge of pain and rounded the corner back into the lab, following Viper and Fortaineau.

* * *

Buzz darted to the elevator and pressed the down button, before realizing the elevator was already heading up to where he was. It dinged, causing the boy to quickly hide to the side of the door. He looked around and grabbed a planter, preparing himself.

The door slid open and, before he could think, Buzz was swinging the planter for all he was worth, into the first person that stepped out.

"Oof!" the perpetrator exclaimed, the planter hitting him square in the gut. Buzz quickly jumped around the crumpling form and into the elevator...

...right into Wildwing.

"Oof!" Buzz mimicked the person he hit, nearly falling back if it wasn't for Wildwing's firm grip on his shoulders.

"Buzz, are you all right?" Wildwing asked.

"Buzz? What about _me_?" Nosedive wheezed, still on his knees from the blow. "Geez kid, you sure know how to wield a plant."

Buzz, realizing his mistake, smiled sheepishly as he ran a hand through his messy blonde hair. "Heh, sorry, the gunfire got me worked up." He looked up at Wildwing. "Wing, Mal's fighting Viper and his mad scientist over there in the lab!" Buzz pointed in the direction he came from. "It was awesome! She hit Viper and got me free but Viper woke up out of nowhere and was shooting at us, but she got us out of the room real quick and _BAM_ was raining pucks on them like no tomorrow!"

Buzz added to his run-on story with exuberant hand expressions, causing a couple eyebrows to raise from the two brothers.

Wildwing looked to Nosedive. "Dive, get Buzz downstairs to Grin, then head back up here pronto—we don't know who or what we're dealing with."

His kid brother nodded and entered the elevator with Buzz. Buzz looked ready to protest, but was interrupted by the teenager.

"You'll have to teach me that planter trick of yours," he groaned as the doors to the elevator closed. "I think you bruised my ribs."

Wildwing watched the elevator tick down to the first floor through the electronic screen above the doors, then took a deep breath as he looked down the hallway. He brandished his forearm weapon and made his way to the laboratory.

* * *

"Stop!" Mallory called out, firing at Viper and Fortaineau as they made their way through what looked to be some sort of reactor room.

Inside, they stood upon rough metal walkways, and below them an eerie blue essence glowed, illuminating almost three stories of a huge cylinder. The metal catwalks went up and arched over the giant mouth of the reactor, before descending into stairs on the other side of the spacious room.

More of the one-way mirrors could be seen along all sides, with the tinted nightlights of Anaheim visible beyond. It was hard to believe that this entire area had been hidden by building aesthetics, all within the roof of Adder Telecommunications.

The redhead glanced down to the reactor far below, noticing electricity sputtering across its diameter. She was forced to return her focus to the current situation, however, when the two men recommenced shooting at her. Tings and sparks along her pathway—by the ricochet of bullets—caused her to dive out of the way, but with not a lot of options for cover along the grated railings.

Her mind was still reeling, however, with _why_ they had taken Buzz, and what they had been moments away from doing to him. What was in that syringe they'd almost injected Buzz with? And why? If they had his data from his computer, they'd know how to make the lab-made beryllium already. Were they trying to make a larger gateway here? What else could this place be used for? Most of what Tanya and Buzz had been doing over the past year was well beyond Mallory's scope of comprehension, but she had no doubt that Buzz possessed the knowledge that Viper was seeking, whatever it was.

Viper and Fortaineau seemed to be heading beyond the reactor, down the metal stairs and towards what appeared to be a rooftop that sat at mouth level to the large cylinder. The blue glow made it hard to see, but Mallory recognized the silhouette of a helicopter easily enough.

"Oh no you don't," she growled, reaching the highest point upon the suspended catwalks and firing a few rounds to slow the men down.

A sudden wave of dizziness overtook Mallory, though, making her pause in her actions and grasp the thin handrail to keep her footing. She was losing a lot of blood.

But she would _not_ let them get away.

Karma must've heard her, because one of Viper's return shots hit the gear that lowered and raised the walkway Mallory was on, breaking it.

With a sickening squeal the wire was released, sending half the walkway plummeting down towards the reactor. Mallory lost her footing and slid.

She frantically reached out, her left hand barely managing to grab a support beam of the handrail. Her body stopped its motion abruptly, jolting her and causing her other hand to lose grip of the puck-launcher. With a few clinks against the metal it flew off the ledge and into the reactor below.

She grunted, the stretching in her arm aggravating her wound even more. But she hung on.

Viper's laugh echoed in the facility, and Mallory realized that, aside from a holey metal walkway, she was nothing but a giant bullseye for Viper's next shot.

"Brings new meaning to the term 'sitting duck,' doesn't it?" he called out smugly. "Too bad for you, I will get what I need, one way or another. If not from that brat, then perhaps from our mutual acquaintance, hmm?"

Mallory's brow furrowed. _What_ mutual acquaintance? Falcone didn't have that kind of knowledge—

"Regardless, your death will be quite in vain, I'm afraid," Viper finished with a low chuckle, taking the time to aim his weapon carefully.

A shot rang out and Mallory closed her eyes, but the only response was Viper's cry of pain. She looked over and through the walkway, seeing the man holding his hand. Her eyes traveled down to see Wildwing aiming his blaster at him.

But Viper wasn't done. He growled and pulled out what looked like a grenade. He removed the pin from it but kept his finger on the detonator, holding it out for both ducks to see.

"I suggest you refrain from any more wayward shots!" he yelled, raising his hand with the explosive device high into the air. "I have no reservations tearing down this building to get rid of my duck problem!" He took a few steps back and looked to Fortaineau. "Get the helicopter running!"

The scientist nodded and ran outside onto the rooftop.

Wildwing pressed a button on his arm gun, causing it to whir and reset. His aim never wavered. "How about a solid 'no' to both?" He instantly fired, sending a puck blazing towards Viper.

Viper gasped but didn't have time to react. Before the puck hit him it exploded, releasing a thick, viscous substance that coated the man. Viper fell back onto the floor, the gooey liquid drying his hand to the grenade, as well as his finger to the detonator release.

"Nice one!" Nosedive cheered, entering the area and running up behind Wildwing. The captain looked up at Mallory, still trapped on the sloped walkway. "Hold on!" He pulled out his own puck-launcher, adjusting its settings. He aimed up and fired, causing a puck to launch in her direction.

It hit the walkway's fallen end and, upon impact, released three prongs that wrapped around the metal bars that made up the floor of the walkway. Both brothers pulled on the rope attached to it, testing the resistance of the cable.

"Mal!" Nosedive called up to her. "Think you can climb down?"

Mallory was having a hard time seeing straight, but didn't have a chance to answer. She looked over and saw the helicopter lift into the air, turning and aiming its weapons straight at the window.

"Look out!" she cried, gunfire erupting from the helicopter's automatic gatling guns.

Wildwing and Nosedive jumped out of the way of the barrage, the windows exploding into sparkling shards. Mallory pulled herself into a tight ball, unable to do much else. Viper yelled obscenities at Fortaineau, still unable to move from the glue puck Wildwing had shot.

What happened next was unclear. Whether Fortaineau intended to aim where he did was unknown, but the gunfire changed direction wildly from the helicopter's hovering, and a few rounds went towards Viper.

Despite the substance keeping Viper immobile, the power of the bullets sent the man flailing backwards, and with one last horrifying scream Viper plummeted into the reactor.

The gunfire began making its way back towards Mallory and the rest, but before it could an explosion erupted from within the reactor, sending the entire structure of the building into a shaky fit.

The helicopter stopped firing, and another glance showed that Fortaineau had quickly made his getaway at the sight of the fire.

"MALLORY!"

Mallory, still clinging to the walkway, looked down at Wildwing. Nosedive was holding the rope to the grappling hook tightly, and Mallory realized that they had somehow pulled the catwalk towards them and anchored it to the railing down there.

"LET GO!" Wildwing instructed. He motioned with his arms while Nosedive struggled to keep the walkway's tilted side angled toward the ledge they were on.

Mallory didn't even bother hesitating. She let go, sliding down the rest of the walkway before becoming airborne. The angle of the catwalk was dead on, and Mallory fell rather ungracefully into Wildwing's arms.

The force of her fall caused Wildwing to fall back as well, with Mallory on top of him.

"Hey," he said simply, smiling at her.

Mallory smiled back at him, but grimaced shortly after.

Wildwing's smile turned into a frown, but whatever he was about to say was lost when another coupled blast occurred from within the reactor.

"We gotta get out of here!" Nosedive cried out, helping Wildwing to his feet while the leader kept Mallory in his arms.

Once standing Wildwing lowered his hold, ready to put Mallory down.

He saw the blood, however, and his heart skipped a beat.

"You've been shot!" Nosedive said before Wildwing could, seeing the wound clearly from the way Wildwing was holding the redhead.

Wildwing quickly brought his arms back up, readjusting his hold on Mallory. He turned around, heading back towards the exit. Nosedive followed close behind, flipping his COM open to warn Grin and Buzz.


	6. Family Reunion

_The Pond_

Tanya's COM buzzed. She glanced at it and popped it open. "Dive?" she asked, seeing his name on the connection but no corresponding video.

"—Ta—! Vi— d—, —n — t— h—rs—"

"Dive, you're uh, breaking up," Tanya said, frowning. She had engineered the COM links with an extremely low frequency, to the point that even two feet of concrete wouldn't cause a hiccup of static.

This broken connection was concerning. "Dive, come in," she said again, more sternly. There was nothing but warped noises when she tried to reconnect with him, however. She tried Wildwing's with the same result, and then Grin's.

"I am here," Grin stated through his COM. His voice somehow managed to be even deeper through the speaker.

Tanya stood up from her stool. "Grin, thank-uh, Drake. Where is Dive a-and Wing?"

"Escaping a collapsing building."

"_What?!_" she squeaked. "Oh, w-we're on our way!" she fumbled away from her desk, barely listening to the pacifist as she hurriedly walked to the laboratory's door.

"They have notified me that they have Mallory and are escaping. Buzz is in my custody," he said.

"_Tanya!" _Buzz called from farther away, Grin's open communication picking it up. "_They took the generator, but I think I know where!_"

Tanya did not respond, but not because she didn't want to. She was unable to say anything, however, due to the fact that a saber—dripping in blood—was currently pointed at her neck.

Lucretia waltzed into the laboratory, Falcone close behind her and dragging a prone Duke along the floor. A trail of red marked his path from down the hallway.

"_Hey, where'd you go_?" Buzz asked, his face appearing on the COM that was now facing away, since Tanya's arms were up in silent surrender.

Without saying a word, Lucretia motioned with a head nod towards Tanya's communicator.

The blonde duck, eyes still wide with fear and surprise, slowly brought her COM back to her face. "Uh, sorry Buzz, workin' on a lead. Keep us, um, updated, okay?"

"_What lead are—_"

Lucretia quickly reached over and ended the connection. She smiled at Tanya, her saber continually poking the scientist and forcing her to take more steps back.

"Please, Lucretia," Tanya pleaded, her eyes drifting to Duke's unconscious form, "let m-me get D-Duke on the Me-Medicom." Her stuttering stood out more with the shakiness in her voice.

"Oh, he's just got a nice little cocktail going," she lightly explained as Tanya was backed up to the stool she'd originally been sitting on. "Mr. Viper makes specialized venom with his snakes." She did glance back at the ex-thief, however, and arched a brow. "Hmm, he does seem to be making a mess of your floor, unfortunately."

Once the laboratory doors slid shut, Falcone dropped Duke's legs, leaving the gray mallard at the entrance and walking over to the two females. His smile was just as rueful as Lucretia's, and Tanya felt her fear increase twofold. Before anyone could speak, however, a loud beep came from Falcone.

The Raptrin let out a curt sigh, reaching into his pocket to pull out a black device. "Can't help being popular," he gloated with a smirk, pressing a button on it and holding it up like a walkie-talkie. "Falcone here," he stated into it.

"Bring the scientist to the secondary location," a voice roughly coughed out. Falcone frowned at Lucretia, and she returned the same concerned expression.

"Fortaineau? Where is Phineas?" he asked.

There was the sound of more coughing, with the heavy background noise of propellers. "He's gone," he breathed out. "I have the data, we just need _her_ to transfer the information."

"_Gone?!" _Falcone growled out. "What—"

"It doesn't matter," Fortaineau interrupted. "We can bring him back, and we can get you home. Just bring her to _me_."

The line clicked and silence returned to the room.

"_DAMMIT!" _Falcone practically screamed, slamming his fist into the nearby tabletop. "I knew that ugly little scientist was no good."

"Let me g-get Duke on the M-Medicom," Tanya insisted again, trying to step away from Lucretia's saber.

Falcone had his own sword trained on her in an instant. "You make one wrong move and I'll make sure you get your precious Duke back in _pieces_."

Tanya's glare at the Raptrin was murderous. "If he dies you get NOTHING from me!" she yelled, her stutter suddenly replaced with fury.

Lucretia stepped between the two, lowering her own weapon. "All right, all right, we're all adults here," she pacified. "Falcone, honey, let's put Duke on the Medicom so she can see he'll be all right, and then we'll all go on a little road trip together, okay?" She gently pushed Falcone's blade away from Tanya.

Falcone's teeth were still barred as he glared right back at the scientist, but his eyes eventually drifted to Lucretia's, her own stare at him unwavering. Like the snap of a finger, the Raptrin's previous anger dissipated and he was giving the blonde duck another charming smile.

"Very well, love, you take care of your cousin. I'll get L'Orange on the table." He glanced down at the unmoving duck and sighed. "Is there a sheet around here? I really don't want to get blood on my clothes."

Tanya went to reach for Duke again, but Falcone stopped her with his sword once more. "Ah ah, Taunny-roo, I can handle this."

"Besides," Lucretia interjected, linking her free arm through Tanya's, "we have _so_ much to catch up on."

The blonde duck was still distracted as she watched Falcone scrounge around for something to lift Duke with. Lucretia was persistent, however, and pulled her through the side doors to the adjacent infirmary, straight towards the Medicom. Once there, the shorter female released her grip, allowing Tanya to start the machine up.

She instantly went to work turning it on, Lucretia watching her with her arms casually crossed. The scientist didn't say anything, instead glancing repeatedly at Falcone as he followed them into the room and successfully found some linen to drape around Duke. He pressed a couple buttons on the wall console to keep the automatic doors open, then went back to the laboratory, lifted the ex-thief, and dropped him rather unceremoniously onto the Medicom's stretcher.

Tanya wasted no time in starting the scan, checking the results, and quickly following its instructions. She was silent as she worked, Lucretia and Falcone both observing her intently. Within a few minutes she had cut away Duke's uniform around his shoulder, cleaning the area the best she could before the machine was prepped and began working.

A relieved sigh escaped her when the Medicom indicated the poison was temporary, and was acting like a tranquilizer, in a way. Likewise, his stab wound had not done extensive damage, and aside from some moderate blood loss, the nanobots would be able to repair most of the tissue within a few hours.

Lucretia, hovering over her shoulder, seemed to have read her thoughts on the subject. "See T-belle? I told you he'd be okay."

The nickname was a mental slap in the face for Tanya, and felt like a wake-up call to a different time and place, in more ways than one. She pushed the weird feeling away, as well as her previous worry for Duke that had clouded her thoughts. With her task complete and him healing on the Medicom now, as well as the added reassurance that he was not in critical condition, she was able to think through the situation more clearly.

"The beryllium," she said, looking at the two intruders, "it w-wasn't enough for a gateway, but it was enough to open D-Dimensional Limbo."

Falcone grinned. "I admit, I was skeptical at first, too. But Viper was right: limbo is nothing but a gateway with no destination."

The purple-haired duck noticeably flinched at the term _limbo_, and Tanya felt a pang of sadness, despite her best efforts not to. She focused her attention back to Falcone. "Y-you've been planning this for a while."

That got a laugh out of the Raptrin. "You have no idea, love."

Tanya's eyes went to the ground as her mind began processing a dozen thoughts at once. "Viper got the b-beryllium and Raptor p-parts to open limbo. He got you out of prison, so you could get h-her on board ... y-you needed her t-transporter to get back home." She had looked at Lucretia as she spoke, but now gazed at Falcone with a frown.

"But why would h-he help?"

"Perhaps it's because he was unwilling to leave someone floating in an abyss for the rest of their life," Lucretia snarled out suddenly, catching the blonde duck's attention.

"We didn't k-know Dragaunus would—"

"Oh, please, you planted that chip on me knowing full well he'd find it!" Lucretia got up into Tanya's face, but the latter did not budge.

"You n-nearly drowned my team!" she yelled back.

"So?! I kept you safe, _cousin_. But apparently blood does _not_ run thicker than water."

Tanya shook her head. "T-there was nothing we could do! We d-destroyed the generator and had t-to rebuild it!"

Lucretia pushed Tanya back into the desk next to the Medicom. "And I'm sure you were just _itching_ to use it to bring me back home, weren't you? I'm sure it was the _first_ item on your to-do list!"

The scientist, her own anger growing, shoved Lucretia back. "I _w-would_ have—"

"Ladies, _ladies_," Falcone soothed, getting between the two. "We have a prior engagement, do we not? Let us not bicker here."

Lucretia took a deep breath, stepping back and smoothing out her black tank top and pants. "Of course, honey," she said to him, only glancing briefly at Tanya. "Water under the bridge." She stepped to the side of her cousin and stopped the Medicom.

Tanya instantly turned it back on, elbowing Lucretia out of the way to do so. "No, h-he needs to heal!"

She instantly had the bloody saber pointed at her neck again. "Push me again, sweet cousin, and we'll just _see_ how thick blood runs."

The blonde duck kept her stance by the Medicom, but did raise her arms up in surrender. "Y-your trying to t-transfer the coord-coordinates to the gateway, right?" she asked, already knowing the answer. "I'll go with y-you and help, but o-only if he stays here."

"Well, actually," Falcone stated, wiping a smudge off his drawn saber, "it's a little more complicated than that." Satisfied with its sheen, he pressed a button on it to make it dematerialize.

Lucretia had lowered her own saber as she suspiciously studied her cousin, to where it pointed at Tanya's stomach rather than her neck. Eventually, a cruel smile played across her beak. "Oh goodness, does my T-belle have her first boyfriend?"

Falcone chuckled. "I guess it _has_ been quite the dry spell for old Dukester, stuck on this boring planet and all."

"Oh yes, I remember," Lucretia replied, her eyes never wavering from Tanya's. "I had him practically drooling at my feet when I met him."

Tanya, to her benefit, remained expressionless when she said, "L-leave him here to heal, and I w-will h-help you get home."

This time Lucretia giggled, walking up to Tanya and playfully tapping her beak. "You _are_ in love with his boytoy, aren't you? Look at you, trying to suppress your jealousy." She walked by Duke, interrupting the Medicom's process when she used some extra sheet to wipe her own saber clean. When she finished and stepped away, the machine started back up again.

Lucretia sheathed her saber, casually brushing her hair away from her shoulders. "T-belle, you know I love you, but you were always a little naïve in this department. Duke L'Orange, former leader of the Brotherhood of the Blade, does _not_ fall in love with a government nerd who has never worn a dress in her life."

Falcone nodded. "Take my word, dear, he's more of the buxom, tight leather variety." He paused, glancing his partner up and down purposely. "More like another Vanderflock I know," he added suggestively.

The tan mallard smiled back at Falcone appreciatively. "Such a charmer," she said, wrapping an arm around Tanya at the same time. "Very well, T-belle. We'll leave your Dukey to heal, so long as you come with us and provide that big, smart brain of yours."

The blonde duck took in a shaky breath, watching both Lucretia and Falcone with growing apprehension. A small mechanical whir behind her, however, reminded her of the duck she'd be saving.

"L-lead the way," Tanya answered bravely.

* * *

_Adder Telecommunications_

"Where are they?!" Buzz frustratingly asked from the open loading bay of the Migrator. He ran his hands through his hair, his eyes never leaving the main entrance to the building.

Grin stood next to him, watching with a concerned expression as the high-rise literally shook with explosions. Luckily, the perimeter around the building was huge: in the likelihood that it did collapse on itself, there would be very little damage to the neighboring skyscrapers.

Nonetheless, Grin had already called Klegghorn on the situation, and he and Buzz had done a quick perimeter sweep with the Migrator to make sure the surrounding areas were clear. Minus some rather hefty body damage to the front, the vehicle was in perfect working order.

It'd only been about five minutes since Nosedive had contacted them, and now the two waited anxiously for their three missing team members.

Another explosion up high finally gave the last bit of force needed, as the roof near the top of the building began caving in on itself, starting a slow but steady domino effect.

"Stay here, Buzz," Grin stated, running over and hopping onto a duckcycle. With a loud rev, he tore out of the Migrator and towards the entrance.

"Wait, Grin!" Buzz called out, alarmed at what the big duck was about to do.

* * *

"Crap crap _shit _crap!" Nosedive repeatedly cursed as the three made it down the last few flights of stairs. The ceilings above them had begun raining small chunks of plaster, and the very foundation of the stairs themselves had begun buckling under the structural integrity of the framework collapsing above.

Aside from Nosedive's rather colorful wording, however, the group was silent. They were solely focused on getting the hell out of there as fast as possible.

Wildwing jumped the last few steps to ground floor, Mallory completely unconscious in his arms now. He'd seen her struggling to remain awake during their long trip down the crumpling building, but all he could do was hold tight to her.

He did find the bullet wound near the left side of her abdomen, however, and had shifted his hold so his hand could apply pressure there.

But the skin beneath her feathers had become very pale.

As they neared the main entrance to the building, a huge crash echoed above them. Wildwing didn't dare look up.

"The place is caving in!" Nosedive called out ahead.

Wildwing gritted his teeth and jumped over a large chunk of debris that nearly fell on top of him. He saw the glass doors at the main entrance had already shattered from the shifting weight of the building, and simply ran through the doorframe to outside.

Despite the chaos, the captain instantly heard the familiar sound of an engine. Moments later, Grin pulled up on a duckcycle.

"Grinster, our hero!" Nosedive called out, skidding to a stop in front of the big duck. "Wing, come on!"

Wildwing didn't waste any time. He carefully turned Mallory as he climbed on behind Nosedive, sandwiching her between him and his brother. He kept one arm secure around her and used his other hand to grab Nosedive's shoulder.

Grin gunned it, and within seconds the duckcycle was racing away from the collapsing building and towards the Migrator.

A huge explosion behind them told them they were just in time.

* * *

Buzz had whimpered upon seeing the building go from twenty stories tall to one in a less than a minute. The dust from the debris had blinded him from seeing the former entrance, much less the four ducks that had not returned.

He didn't have to wait long, thankfully. The sound of an approaching engine reached his ears and, within a few seconds, a large silhouette formed from within the blinding dust, approaching the Migrator fast.

"You're okay!" he called out excitedly, running up to meet the group.

Grin drove the duckcycle straight up the open ramp, parking it inside the larger vehicle. He quickly dismounted with his passengers, Buzz anxiously standing next to them.

"Mallory?!" he cried out, seeing her unmoving in Wildwing's arms.

"Grin, get us to the Pond and warn the others," Wildwing commanded, pushing a button on the floor of the Migrator. A built-in cot from the sidewall shot out, allowing him to place the redhead down. She moaned in response.

Buzz came up next to Wildwing, tears already forming in his eyes. "What happened?!"

"She was shot," Wildwing curtly explained. "Nosedive, bandages!"

"On it!"

Mallory groaned again, opening her eyes. She looked up at Wildwing, and then saw Buzz next to her and attempted to sit up.

Wildwing pushed her back down. "No moving," he ordered, his voice strained. "We need to put pressure on the wound."

"I'm fine—"

"You are _not_ fine," he growled at her, pressing her shoulders back into the cot. "Stay down, that's an order."

She sighed, but stopped resisting. She glanced over at Buzz and smiled at him. "Hey kid," she breathed out.

"You weren't supposed to get shot," Buzz quietly said, a hiccupped sob escaping right afterwards.

"I'm okay, Buzz," she soothed. "I promise." She reached out with her right hand, which he grasped onto tightly.

A wave of pain must have washed over the redhead, then, as she hissed in a breath and closed her eyes briefly. Buzz felt her handhold instinctively tighten. Nosedive came up to them shortly afterwards, loaded with supplies. He dumped everything on the cot next to Mallory's legs, and Buzz was forced to step back as Wildwing and Nosedive began to dress her wound.

The captain had removed his gloves, allowing his hands to move more freely. He grabbed at the side of Mallory's unitard and ripped it along the perimeter of the bullet wound. Another moan escaped from the redhead as the clothing stuck to her bloodied skin and feathers, making Wildwing cringe and slow down his actions.

The leader wordlessly motioned to his brother, who saw what he was reaching for and handed it to him. "This is gonna sting," he warned, squirting the solution onto Mallory's side.

"Agh!" she shouted, instantly trying to pull away. Wildwing kept a tight grip on her shoulder with his other hand, however, and quickly finished the job.

With the dirt, debris, and blood cleaned off the wound, it was clear that the bullet had gone completely through. Buzz felt a wave of nausea take over as both sides of the wound continued to ooze relentlessly.

Wildwing quickly padded gauze in the wound to help control the bleeding. He took a long bandage and unraveled it deftly, and with Nosedive's help they wrapped Mallory's complete midsection.

"You need to rest until we get you on the Medicom," he instructed, his hand still pressing down on Mallory's shoulder.

She nodded at him, her face still distorted in pain. "I'm sorry—"

"Not now," Wildwing interrupted, shaking his head as he hastily put his gloves back on. "Rest." The captain then turned his attention to Buzz, who had been watching everything with wide, teary eyes.

"Tell us what happened," he gruffly demanded.


	7. Collateral Damage

_Location unknown __– present day_

Tanya sat quietly in one of the backseats of the Aerowing, occasionally craning her neck to see the map on the small screen next to Falcone.

Both the Raptrin and Lucretia sat in the front, and any conversation between them was mumbled quietly enough that she could not make out more than one or two words with each statement.

Her wrists were bound in front of her, which were then tightly bound to the arm rest. She could not reach the control panel to her left, nor did she have enough leeway to even comfortably stand.

She could only see the nighttime sky through the Aerowing's large windshield, and had not studied enough of Earth's astronomy to gauge a direction they were traveling. There was another screen on the control panel next to her, but it was currently turned off. She couldn't reach the switch with her hands, but perhaps a toe..?

The scientist used one foot to unclasp the latches on both sides of her other boot, carefully watching the two ducks up front for any glances her way. She slipped her foot out of the now-open shoe, and stepped on the tip of her sock so she could free her foot from the cloth.

If she could turn on the screen, she could potentially upload the coordinates to the network for the others to see.

The blonde duck checked on Falcone and Lucretia one more time to ensure her privacy, then turned her chair around so she faced the console. Bringing her foot up, she pointed her toe and flipped the switch to turn on the screen.

The monitor blinked to life, and a map of Southern California became visible. Their upcoming destination blinked red, showing a remote area just east of Joshua Tree National Park. What in the world would be out there?

Her toe pressed into a couple buttons along the side, bringing up the team's network. If she could send an update through it, the map and the Aerowing's destination would show up on all of their channels, including Drake One and the COMs.

A cramp started forming in the bend of her foot, but she ignored it and continued to click, scroll, and press buttons. With some struggling, she was able to type up the necessary command, but when she pressed the button to execute it, a message popped up.

_Error: network not connected_

"Sweetie, if you wanted to know where we were going, you could've just asked."

Tanya jumped, her foot slipping from the console at the same time. Lucretia stood next to her, turning around to casually lean against the dashboard. She reached down and clicked the error message away, leaving the Aerowing's route on the monitor. "Mr. Viper has a research laboratory along Eagle Mountain, right here." She pointed to the spot on the map, her finger tapping against the glass. "We have your fancy gateway generator all set up there."

Lucretia returned her gaze to Tanya, a small smirk forming along her beak. "Sorry about the network, but this is what I would call _classified information_. You tend to forget that I graduated from the same school you did, hmm?"

"T-then why do you need me to t-transfer the coordinates?" Tanya simply asked, shooting Lucretia an almost patronizing glare.

Her cousin simply smiled at her, unphased by the intended insult. "Well, sure, I can get Mr. Falcone and I back home without issue. But," she added with a lilt at the end, "we have to hold up our end of the deal."

The blonde duck frowned at her. "And wh-what's that?" she asked a little more hesitantly.

"Well," she responded, standing back up and turning Tanya's chair to face the front of the ship again, "Mr. Viper got a hold of some _interesting_ files, relating to an incident where your whole team disappeared for about 24 hours."

Tanya felt the blood drain from her face as she looked up at Lucretia.

"Oh yes, cousin," Lucretia added upon seeing her reaction, "your little time travelling experience did not go unnoticed. In fact, you all brought back a souvenir from that trip, didn't you?"

_Phil's_ _staff_, Tanya thought with increasing panic. She had collected data from Phil's small band of resistance members, prior to their mission to take out the Master Tower of the future. It was intelligence that was never meant to be used … that kind of power in the wrong hands was unthinkable.

"W-what are you going to do with it?" she finally asked, fear lacing her words.

"Not us, dear. Oh no, we'll be long gone by then." Lucretia checked Tanya's wrist restraints and patted her lightly on the head. "Mr. Viper had some extensive plans, however, on making a future he had been promised by Lord Dragaunus." She shrugged as she went back to sit next to Falcone, Tanya watching her with wide eyes. As she sat down, her hand rubbed Falcone's forearm, and he looked over at her with a smile.

"I wonder what Fortaineau has in mind," Falcone asked, his tone facetious.

Lucretia glanced once more at Tanya and winked at her. "I guess _time_ will tell!"

Both Lucretia and Falcone lightly laughed at her pun, while Tanya continued to struggle against her restraints.

* * *

_The Pond_

The Migrator squealed to a stop in the large garage hangar. As Nosedive peered through the camera showing the rear of the vehicle, it was clear that the tires had left some sizeable skid marks along the slick floor in the process. He was pretty sure it wasn't the first time they'd hauled ass into the Pond, though, and briefly wondered if Tanya had used specialized tiles to make cleanup easy.

The teenager shook the random thought away and immediately opened the loading ramp, allowing Wildwing to quickly descend with Mallory in his arms.

"Did you get ahold of Tanya and Duke?" the captain questioned loudly as he briskly walked, the rest of the team hurriedly following. Just as he was about to enter the doors to their headquarters, however, he stopped.

The wall console was dismantled, pieces of metal hanging by the contraption's cords and open connectors dangerously sparking. The sliding doors themselves were stuck in an open position.

"Neither Duke nor Tanya answered their communication units," Grin answered, stopping behind Wildwing. Nosedive looked back at him worriedly.

"Puck-launchers out, defensive positions now," Wildwing ordered. "Buzz, stay behind Grin."

"Is it Viper? I thought he died!" Buzz anxiously whispered. "Or that mad scientist guy?!"

"_Shhh._" Wildwing adjusted his hold on Mallory, causing the redhead to hiss in pain. He quietly apologized but managed to bring his right forearm shield forward enough that it provided them their own defense—even while still holding up her legs. He briefly glanced behind and motioned the team with a head nod.

In a V formation and with Nosedive leading, they proceeded through the hallway, Buzz keeping close behind Grin and two of the three ducks with weapons aimed straight ahead. From the large hangar, the infirmary was down the hall and to the right, adjacent to Tanya's laboratory. Across the way were three holding cells, even though they had never been used.

Of course, if Tanya and Duke had retrieved Falcone from the police station, then Nosedive supposed that the Raptrin may be in one of them now.

They reached the end of the junction and stayed close to the wall nearest the corner. Wildwing motioned Grin over, and gently handed Mallory to him. He turned back and activated the Mask, scanning the area ahead.

"Someone's in the infirmary," he confirmed. "I think they're on the Medicom."

A small gasp echoed in the eerily quiet hallway, startling the other ducks in the vicinity. Nosedive looked down and saw that Buzz had braved a peek around the corner without anyone knowing.

"Buzz-!" Wildwing started, reaching for the kid's shoulder.

"Someone got hurt!" Buzz cried out, running ahead before anyone could stop him.

"Buzz!" Mallory called, struggling to get out of Grin's arms. "Stop him!" she said when the big duck refused to let her down.

Nosedive bolted after him, Wildwing close behind. As they rounded the corner they saw what Buzz did: a trail of blood, starting as a pool in front of one of the cells and smeared across the length of the path until it ended at the laboratory's sliding doors.

The infirmary entrance was before the mess. Nosedive slowed down at its entrance, while Wildwing chased after Buzz and managed to pull him back before he reached Tanya's lab.

"They might need help!" Buzz shouted, struggling against the arm that had wrapped around his waist and lifted him up.

"Nosedive, now!"

The teenager nodded and pressed the necessary command to open the infirmary. As soon as it slid open he jumped inside, puck-launcher at the ready.

"Duke!" the youngest member of the ducks exclaimed, keeping his weapon out but running up to the prone mallard. The Medicom was rotating and working on the ex-thief, a sizeable wound visible along his shoulder. The gray mallard himself was unconscious. Nosedive quickly swept the rest of the area, confirming no one else was around.

His eyes traveled to the doorway linking the infirmary to the laboratory, and noticed the doors there had been left open. Stepping cautiously closer and weapon aimed forward, he saw more blood along the floor, leading back towards its exit. Along one of Tanya's desks was an array of broken circuitry, pieces of red metal glinting against the fluorescent lighting.

"All clear!" Nosedive yelled.

Wildwing, having already released Buzz from his temporary stronghold, quickly made his way in and checked the computer linked to Duke's Medicom. Grin followed in with Mallory shortly afterwards, laying the redhead down on another empty Medicom gurney.

"Stab wound," Wildwing said out loud to the team. Nosedive walked up behind him, reading the information as well.

"Some sort of custom snake poison…" Wildwing added, trailing off. "We need to check security footage."

"On it," Nosedive proclaimed, heading towards Drake One. "Be back in a flash!"

"Wait!" Wildwing demanded. "We don't know if anyone else is still here!"

"The Aerowing is gone," Grin stated calmly.

He paused, looking at Grin. "Wait, it was?"

"Shows how observant you are," Nosedive chastised good-naturedly. His older brother glared at him.

"Fine," he relented, and Nosedive gave a thumbs up before jogging towards the exit. "But be alert!" Wildwing called after him.

"I wanna come!" Buzz piped up, running after the teenager.

Nosedive slowed his trek, waiting for the child prodigy to catch up with him. "Then hurry up, slow poke!"

* * *

The machine whirred to life, rotating at the same pace as the one adjacent to it. Mallory glanced over at her teammate, still unconscious next to her, even though he was nearly halfway complete with his treatment. Whatever poison they had infected Duke with was strong, if it managed to keep him out this long.

The redhead herself swallowed some anxiety as a light enveloped around her. The Medicom's main purpose was to produce a specialized magnetic field, which acted like a puppeteer to the nanobots now in her bloodstream. However, additional accessories and customizations allowed the machine to perform some basic medical procedures, as well, including the multiple tubes that were now attached to her via IV. Mallory was inherently thankful for that; she wasn't exactly keen on letting a goalie or a pacifist anywhere near her with a giant needle.

"Grin, can we have a moment?"

Mallory's attention turned to Wildwing, who was staring at the Medicom readout on the nearby monitor. His arms were crossed, and between the Mask and his heavy chest armor, it made him look downright intimidating.

Grin, standing guard near the infirmary entrance, bowed respectfully towards both the leader and the redhead, before silently exiting. The sound of the doors hissing shut was exceptionally loud against the tension that was left in the room.

Guilt started bubbling to the surface of her emotions, but Mallory wasn't even sure where to begin.

"You've lost a lot of blood," Wildwing said, his voice even and neutral. She opened her beak to reply, but hesitated. He had not turned around.

"No bullet fragments, at least," he continued, "and no major organ damage. You were damn lucky." He paused, reading further. "Two hours for minimal repair, four for full muscle and subcutaneous tissue rebuilding."

Mallory shook her head. "We can't wait that long—"

"No, _you_ can," Wildwing forcefully interrupted, finally turning around to face her. "You've disregarded enough orders for one day, don't you think?"

She flinched at the sudden harshness in his tone. "Wildwing, I'm sorry—"

"You know," he let out a sharp laugh, "I think you've run out of apologies. It's one thing to make a mistake, Mallory. It's something else entirely when you refuse to _learn_ from them."

"But Buzz—"

"It doesn't matter _who _it was, we're a team!" he suddenly shouted. "I thought that meant something to you," he added, his voice lowering but still equally edged with anger.

"It does," she answered him quietly. Unable to move from her prone position, she opted to look up at the rotating structure of the Medicom instead, away from his piercing stare.

"I'm not so sure, anymore."

"I protected him, Wing. I did exactly what you would have done if it'd been Nosedive."

"I wouldn't shut out others to do it!"

"I'm not shutting you out; there just wasn't any time!" She let out a frustrated growl, feeling almost trapped in her position on the Medicom and with him hovering over her. "This is about those stupid nightmares again, isn't it?"

"It's about _trust_, Mallory. You need to _trust _me, and to _trust_ your teammates." He sighed, taking a long moment to remove the Mask, and catching Mallory's attention in the process. His eyes were tired, and his expression grim as he _truly_ looked at her. "I don't even try to pretend to know what you've seen or experienced in the service, but you can still _talk_ to me about it."

His hand went to reach for her, but he stopped when he remembered the Medicom's field. Sighing again, he admitted, "You haven't been acting like yourself, at all."

Mallory felt her throat clench, a mishmash of painful feelings and memories pushing outward and forcing her to try and swallow them down. "You're right," she eventually said, her voice raspy. "...About not knowing."

Wildwing didn't respond. He stood next to her, his eyes now boring into her as she opted to stare down the rotating metal contraption above her. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye.

"Then _tell_ me," he insisted.

The redhead was deathly silent, her eyes still fixed straight above. She blinked heavily a couple times, before finally taking a deep, shaky breath. "In a war … you're forced to learn how to triage. How to save the most amount of lives in the shortest amount of time.

"If … if a slave camp happens to be nearby a Hunter Drone distribution center, well … you try and warn the prisoners before you press _fire_ on the rocket. Maybe a dozen of the strongest make it out. But … you've taken out a warehouse that had been producing thousands of drones a day, and in the end you'll free nine other camps in the process."

Glazed eyes finally looked at Wildwing. "It doesn't make it any better. But that's the only way you'll ever win." She let out a breathy laugh that came out harsh and emotionless. "It's not even what we're taught in the service. They know better. Who the hell would want to make decisions like that, right? They were smart, they made us believe we could save everybody."

Mallory looked down and away. "My dad was raised that way, too. No collateral damage. Your life before theirs, always. 'That's the ticket you bought, the choice you made,' he'd say. He didn't even blink twice when he told me he'd be staying behind to make sure the ship didn't hit Metropolis.

"He never even let me tell him goodbye."

Wildwing was speechless where he stood. He knew about General McMallard—anyone who was living in or around Metropolis when the Invasion hit knew about him. The giant battleship had fought against the first wave of ships that aimed to take out the city.

They had been nearly successful, too, if not for the invisible force shield of Dragaunus'. Fighting an enemy blind had been impossible. When the ship finally gave out, it began to fall towards downtown. The general had chosen to stay aboard, however, to steer it away from civilization and into the bay nearby.

He had died a hero.

Wildwing had not known Mallory was on the ship that day. When they had first met, he and Nosedive mentioned how brave her father was, and that they were sorry for her loss. She had easily brushed off their condolences.

As he'd gotten to know Mallory more intimately, he had learned that she and her father had never been that close. With four older brothers and a mother that had died giving birth to her, it sounded like Mallory's father almost resented his daughter for being alive when his lifemate wasn't.

It was a harsh presumption, but Mallory always acted like it was the only way she had ever known her father.

Seeing her now told Wildwing that it affected her more than she'd ever let on.

"Mallory, I—"

The door suddenly hissed open, catching the attention of both awake occupants within the room. Grin still stood in the hallway beyond, but Nosedive and Buzz entered breathlessly, and wearing anxious faces to boot.

"Dive?" Wildwing prompted.

"Lucretia DeCoy," he spit out. "She's, they're … Wing, they got Tanya."

"I know where they're taking her!" Buzz exclaimed as well, pounding his fist into his hand. "Let's go beat 'em up!"

"What?" the leader asked, obviously confused. He saw Mallory start to sit up and pressed her back down. "Mallory, _rest_." The Medicom chirped in annoyance at his breakage of the magnetic field, but it whirred back to life as soon as he pulled away.

"Lucretia?!" Mallory asked Nosedive with a snap, even while laying back down. "But how?!" She stayed prone as instructed, but was watching the teenager poignantly.

Buzz, however, was the one to answer. "Tanya said that they stole beryllium and Raptor parts, just enough to make a portal to a Dimensional Gateway, which makes perfect sense, because theoretically the most amount of power is consumed on the length of travel, so when we're talking galaxies you can imagine—!" he paused in his run-on sentence, catching everyone's expressions, and before you could blink moved on with, "Anyways, like I told you when I was held captive, Viper was super-focused on time travel and possible alternate dimensional rifts, which was why Falcone's transporter was uber important."

"But—"

"Right, Falcone broke his transporter," Buzz interrupted seamlessly. "So then Lucretia DeCoy's transporter was the only one left, which explains all that data they had on hand, plus the meager file retrieval they'd managed from the Raptor regarding time travel. Interestingly enough, Lord Dragaunus—or his ancestry—we're super obsessed about breaking that code, so to speak." He chuckled briefly, caught more impatient expressions, and quickly finished with, "But yeah, like I said, they were trying to merge that data with the codes from the transporter, and execute it within the gateway logic Tanya and I created."

There was a long, awkwardly pregnant pause before Wildwing stated, "To time travel."

"Yup!"

"Where are they?" the leader asked.

"Some old research laboratory Viper used during his early entrepreneurial years, just northeast of Eagle Mountain in Joshua Tree National Park." This time, Buzz got a collection of incredulous looks and tapped his forehead before adding, "Eidetic memory, remember? I was able to scrounge through some of his files before he realized I wasn't actually helping him."

Wildwing, realizing the Mask was still in his hand, quickly put it back on. He looked to Mallory. "Do _not_ leave the Medicom unless your life is in danger. We'll set the Pond for maximum security on our way out."

Mallory didn't bother arguing with his tone. She simply nodded.

"Let's go," Wildwing stated, walking towards the rest of the group.

"Uh, Bro?"

The captain paused, glancing at Nosedive.

"This may or may not be the best time to tell you, but uh…"

"Dive?" he brusquely prompted.

The teenager sheepishly grinned and held his hands out as if to say _don't shoot the messenger._

"Lucretia DeCoy is Tanya's cousin."


	8. Survivor's Guilt

_Note: Anyone else stress writing right now? Just me? All righty then, carry on!_

* * *

_The Pond_

…_Ow_.

That about summed up the first thought that came to Duke's groggy mind. Following that, his sense of smell triggered on, and was assaulted with the metallic odor of dried blood. He grimaced, first from it, and then from the dull _ache_ that seemed to have invaded every single muscle.

What the hell _happened_?

There was a mechanical purr near him, or maybe around him—he wasn't sure—but it kept letting off the occasional computerized beep. And even with his one good eye still closed, he could _feel_ the brightness of the fluorescent lighting blinding him from above.

The sterile feel of cold, board-straight metal beneath him was the final clue to his location: he was on the Medicom. From the pain and the smell, not to mention his utter confusion at the situation, he realized it was probably necessary.

That didn't stop him from outwardly groaning, though.

"Duke?"

He turned his head to the voice instinctively, and hissed at the sudden sharp throb that erupted from his shoulder. So, on top of the dull muscle ache, he had a shoulder injury too? Wasn't that just _fantastic_, he bitterly mused. Fighting through the zinger, Duke took a few seconds to open his eyes, the blurry shape in front of him a weird projection of red and purple.

"Mal?" he asked. His voice croaked and he had to clear it loudly, which snowballed into a coughing fit.

"Easy, Duke," she said, and he suddenly felt her hand on his arm. "You're on the Medicom." In conjunction, the machine alarmed and Mallory pulled away.

"Wha' 'appened?" the gray mallard questioned between subsiding coughs.

"Lucretia happened."

A flash of memories rushed to the forefront, making Duke sit upright. The Medicom alarmed again, Mallory yelled his name, and the throb in his shoulder erupted into a shooting agony. He ignored it all, his eyes searching the room.

"Where's Tanya?!"

"Calm. Down," Mallory instructed sternly, one hand on his arm again and the other on his back. "You're still hooked up to the machine."

"Where is she?!" he demanded again, already knowing the answer and angrily trying to find the tubing he could feel along his forearm.

"They went after her," the redhead assured him, then immediately chastised, "Duke-!"

But it was too late. The ex-thief successfully found the catheter and promptly ripped it out. He shoved Mallory's hands off him, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. The Medicom was fully blaring now, error messages flashing on the monitor nearby.

The weight of his legs felt like lead, and his attempt to actually pivot on the gurney turned into a mental battle. He had _told_ his body to move, and was expecting to be facing a different direction by this point in time, but a quick glance down told him that his lower appendages had not budged. He _hadn't_ swung his legs over the side of the bed.

Innate fear rose to the surface. He had been able to sit up without issue. Why couldn't he move his legs?!

The siren noises slowly stopped, causing Duke to look over at Mallory. She was at the computer, clicking off all the messages that seemed to be yelling at them. When silence finally returned to the room, she whipped around and glared at him, breathing heavily.

Her expression quickly transformed into worry, however, and before he could even process it, she asked, "What's wrong?"

An idle thought made Duke wonder if he had actually become that easy to read. His hands went to the sides of the gurney, before another flash of pain made him favor his left shoulder instantly. Gritting his teeth, he explained, "I can't move my legs."

His teammate's eyes widened, and she turned to look back at the Medicom's monitor. "It must be the snake poison—"

_Mr. Viper was very generous with his snake poison_.

The memory was an echo of the temptress' voice, but was real enough that Duke flinched from it. He'd been stabbed in the back of the shoulder, a knife coated in poison that had numbed _everything_. He remembered the feeling of his tongue thickening inside his mouth, and his lungs struggling to expand for air…

How had he _survived_?

"—yet, which is why it may still be hard to move your legs."

Duke realized, belatedly, that he had spaced out while Mallory was talking. He looked back at her and saw her cross her arms.

"You didn't hear a thing I said, did you," she stated instead of asking.

He absently reached for his shoulder, testing its limits. "Lucretia stabbed me wit' snake poison, and I'm guessin' my legs are still recoverin'." He paused and watched Mallory's eyebrows raise. "Not rocket science, Mal. Now where did they take Tanya?" he interrogated less forcefully, using his good hand to start massaging his calves. Maybe, if he got the blood circulation going, he could hurry up whatever healing was left.

"Viper's research lab," she answered, "and the Medicom was still working at clearing the poison. We can—"

"There's no time," he interrupted.

She snorted. "Right. You gonna crawl after her?"

"If I have ta," he retorted without missing a beat. "All part of bein' a _team_, eh Mal?" he asked poignantly.

She glowered at him, her hands balling into fists even with her arms still crossed. "Can it, L'Orange."

"Ya know what? No, _McMallard_. You were the one that went rogue."

"And saved Buzz in the process!" she bit back. Duke's thoughts shifted abruptly when he realized he hadn't even asked about that. On his same line of thinking, she added, "Not that you care."

He nevertheless felt a rush of indignation. "_A'course_ I care! Why is it always a damn competition fer you?" His hand was roughly massaging his legs now, fervently wishing he could stand up and face her properly. "We're a team, Mal. _All_ of us. Ya always got on my case about my 'misplaced' loyalty ta da Brotherhood, but here you are leavin' everyone in the dust to be da '_Special Forces' _hero!"

"I'm no damn hero, Duke!" she yelled, her arms uncrossing and harshly moving with her words. "We're the ones that put Buzz in danger in the first place. He's _my_ responsibility!"

"No, he's _our_ responsibility!" the ex-thief hollered right back. "Meybe, if you realized d'ere's more ta life than _duty_, I wouldn'ta gotten stabbed!"

She looked hurt at that response, and a part of Duke instantly regretted those choice of words. He didn't actually think that, but he also couldn't bring himself to state so.

The lull between them lingered for a long, tense moment, before she bitterly said, "It's not about the service, Duke. I disregarded orders for the _first_ time in my life to get to that kid, because I _knew_ there wasn't any time." Her gaze had fallen to the floor as she spoke, but looked back up purposefully when she asked, "You're going to tell me that you wouldn't go after Tanya right now, with or without the rest of us?"

They both knew the answer to that question. Duke felt his fury dissolve as he thought about Tanya in the hands of those two deceitful ducks. Another feeling began to rise, then, something much stronger, and one he had been desperately trying to push away.

"It's not about duty," Mallory reiterated quietly, her head hanging down, "it's _guilt_."

The gray mallard stopped massaging his legs, his eye squeezing shut as that same guilt took over his senses. He took a deep breath, finally glancing up at the redhead to give her a sarcastic smirk.

"I guess … I guess we got somethin' in common, after all."

She adamantly shook her head. "No, Duke. You didn't fail Tanya."

"Like hell I didn't," Duke argued. "I was so caught up in da past that I didn't see the signs. I shoulda known Falcone was lyin' through his crooked beak."

Her hands went to her hips and she scowled at him. "And I should've kept a closer eye on Buzz."

"You couldn't 'ave known, Mal."

"Well, you sure as hell couldn't have known about Falcone, either."

Duke looked ready to retort, but paused as he made eye contact with Mallory. By all accounts—combined with that expression she wore—there was no winning this argument with her.

To be fair, there was no winning the argument with _him_, either.

He sighed. They were a lot more alike than either would ever be willing to admit, especially when it came to loyalty ... and love.

"Sorry," he replied instead, "about what I said earlier." He motioned to his injured shoulder and added, "D'is ain't yer fault."

"Just like it's not yours."

"Mal—"

"Duke," she interrupted purposefully, but didn't continue.

He let out an annoyed growl. "You're impossible."

"So are you."

There was silence between them again, before Duke couldn't help but smile at their unwinnable debate. "Yer all right, Mal. A little uptight, but all right."

She only smirked at him.

With the tension between them dissipating, Duke let out a disgruntled breath, resuming his one-handed leg massage, and was only _slightly_ disturbed that he couldn't feel it all that well. "So now what?" he finally asked.

She glanced at her COM. "Well, they left about an hour ago, and from here it's a … three-hour trip, less if we gun it."

"On a duckcycle? Yeah, definitely less." He grimaced as he tried to move his legs again to no avail. "Ya gonna be my knight in shinin' armor?"

Mallory rolled her eyes at him. "You better hope this stuff wears off by the time we get there, or you'll be SOL."

He grinned again at her sass. She walked over to him and pulled his legs to the side of the gurney, allowing them to hang while Duke himself used his good arm to stabilize himself. His grin floundered, however, when he saw her grimace.

His expression then turned into an outright frown when she instinctively grabbed her ribcage.

"Whoa," he said to get her attention, "what's with yer side?"

She shrugged him off. "It's … nothing. Just got banged up."

Duke's frown did not dissipate. Her battlegear seemed fine, and he didn't see bandages anywhere, but he had a feeling Wildwing left her here to heal, not just watch over him.

"Nothin' like my poisonin' nothin'?" he probed.

Mallory took a deep breath, slowly releasing the air she'd inhaled as she carefully changed position into something more comfortable. "…Something like that," she finally replied. She didn't offer any more explanation than that and, truth be told, Duke didn't feel like pushing the subject.

They both knew their limits.

"Duke?"

Her voice was more cautious this time as she looked at him. He wordlessly let her know he was listening with a head nod.

"Did … did you know that Lucretia was Tanya's cousin?"

Boy, did that answer a _lot_ of questions.

"I … had my suspicions," he admitted, "d'at d'ey were related, 'nyways." He saw Mallory quirk an eyebrow at him and elaborated with, "It didn't make sense how Tanya knew her, when she'd been so untraceable back 'ome."

"I guess she was always in the shadows," the redhead finally agreed. "I just wish Tanya had told us."

Duke tilted his head. "How'd e'eryone find out?"

Mallory let out a breathy laugh. "Dive being his usual nosey self." She left Duke on the gurney and started heading towards the exit. "Surprisingly, one of the only successful secrets he's kept, I think."

"Mal?"

She glanced back at him.

"What's d'ere endgame?" Duke asked, his good arm still trying to knead his legs awake.

She shrugged. "Time travel, I guess. Or an alternate dimension, I'm not sure. But if they can already open Dimensional Limbo to bring Lucretia back, there's no telling what they'll do next."

Duke watched her open the infirmary door and creased his brow in confusion. "'ey, where are ya going?"

"To get the duckcycle," she responded as she rounded the corner. "I sure ain't carrying your sorry butt to it!"

The gray mallard chuckled as she disappeared, only to hear a high-pitched squeal that was most definitely _not_ Mallory.

Before he could even call out, he heard Mallory's exasperated, "Phil!"

"WHY IS THERE BLOOD ALL OVER THE FLOOR?!"

"Phil—"

"WHERE IS EVERYONE?! ARE THEY ALL DEAD?! AM I IN DANGER … _AGAIN_?!"

"_Phil_!"

"I knew it! I knew I should've paid up my life insurance premiums—OOMPH!"

There was a muffled scuffle of some kind, one of which Duke amusedly listened in on, until Mallory rounded the corner again. The redhead had Phil in an armlock, and one of her hands was securely covering the heavyset manager's mouth.

"Hey, Phil," Duke nonchalantly greeted, still sitting in his spot on the gurney.

Phil's eyes worriedly looked at Duke, widened at the bloody sheet that was still strewn about the Medicom, and then let out a garbled scream when he saw more blood covering the laboratory next door. His eyes nearly rolled back into his head, but Mallory propped him back up and swiftly slapped him across the face.

"Phil! Get ahold of yourself!"

Their team manager's facial expression went from pale, to shock, to anger, and finally settled on forced calm. He straightened his obnoxious purple and yellow-starred tie, then brushed his pony-tailed brown hair away from his face anxiously.

"I'm cool, it's cool, I'm good," he said, finally acknowledging Mallory's demand, or possibly just telling himself that. Duke was never quite sure. The manager took a deep breath and looked at Duke. "Please tell me you two aren't the only ones left."

"Love ya too, Phil," Duke remarked.

Now that he was back in control of himself, Phil actually looked miffed at the two ducks. "Is this about that eagle fella that escaped?"

Mallory rolled her eyes. "Yes, Phil, the 'eagle fella'."

"But, where is he?" he interrogated. "Give him back to the Brits, so we're all on good terms again!"

Duke could practically _see_ Mallory grinding her teeth. "It's not exactly that easy—"

"Yes it is!" he interrupted. In full tirade-mode, Phil started pacing, hands exuberantly expressing his words. "Do you know how many celebrities are coming from there, to _your_ wedding?"

"Oh _stars_," Duke groaned.

"Don't you STARS me, boobie!" Phil pointed accusingly at him, before turning to Mallory. "You promised!"

"Technically, Wildwing—"

"The agreement was made. Dotted line SIGNED!" he nearly shrieked the last word. "It's in ONE WEEK, boobalas. I thought the plan was to do it quickly!"

Mallory rubbed her face tiredly. "It _was_ the plan, Phil. Past-tensed."

"But, but … you don't just CANCEL a wedding!"

Duke, still sitting on the gurney and watching the heavyset man pace, shook his head. "Fer the last time, it's _not_ a wedding."

"Well, whatever you call it—"

"Bindin' ceremony."

"—okay, fine, binding ceremony," he mocked and air-quoted, "but we agreed it would be PUBLIC. There are NEWS STATIONS broadcasting this!"

"I can't," the redhead said, turning and walking away, "I just _can't_ right now with this."

"Where are you going?!" he demanded.

"To get my puck-launcher."

Phil blanched. "W-why?"

She reached the doorway and whirled around. "When I get back, you better be gone, Phil. That's the only warning you're getting from me." In a blink she disappeared around the corner.

"FINE!" he hollered at her and crossed his arms defensively. "Didn't want the stupid wedding, anyway … with all the sponsorships, the red carpet, the publicity…" he paused, then weakly added, "the royalties for years to come…" He let out something akin to a whimper, then sighed. He glanced over at Duke, who was still watching him with a raised brow. "Are … are the guys really in trouble?"

The gray mallard let out a sigh. "Yes."

Phil didn't reply, but eventually nodded and grumbled, "New record." The team manager was quick to start walking towards the exit, most likely in case Mallory made good on her threat. Before Duke could question the random statement, however, Phil called over his shoulder, "I think it's been like, three months since you guys saved the world. Longest streak yet!" When he made it to the doorway, he cautiously checked both directions.

Seeing the coast was clear, he gave Duke a suave smile. "Save the guys, don't get any black eyes, call my cell if you need a _real_ hero," he adjusted his tie for good measure, "and be back in time for the biggest party in Anaheim!" Seeing something down the hallway, Phil yipped and ran the other direction, his voice echoing down the path with, "Carrie Underwood RSVPed!"

Mallory came back into the infirmary a moment later, wheeling a duckcycle along with her. Her eyes were shooting daggers in the direction Phil went, a puck-launcher in one of her hands and a puck bazooka strapped to her back.

Duke chuckled. "You weren't kidding around, Sweetheart."

"That man is insufferable."

The ex-thief watched as she pushed the bike next to his Medicom and added, "Don't worry, we'll make sure yer face stays pretty for da weddin' pics."

"Correction: you _both_ are insufferable."


	9. Through the Snake Pit

_Eagle Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park – present day_

Nighttime had descended by the time they landed and exited the Aerowing, but Tanya wasn't exactly sure how long ago that had been. She supposed that was one of the drawbacks of spending most of your free time in an underground bunker. The flight itself did not take long, which meant Lucretia had most likely been truthful in the location of Viper's laboratory. With her wrists still cuffed, Tanya was led off the large helicopter pad situated on the roof of the building, and down some stairs towards a glass-walled veranda.

Architecturally, Tanya had to admit it was beautiful. Even in the desert night sky, the soft glow of outdoor lighting illuminated the building's staggered adobe shape, seamlessly fitting into the contours of the natural mountain it resided against.

The windows were two or three stories tall and cathedral-shaped, with reflective giant replicas of DNA double helices hanging like chandeliers inside. For this being some sort of nondescript research laboratory, a whole lot of aesthetics had gone into its design.

"Come on, T-belle, hop to it," Lucretia commanded, much like a mother telling her child to keep pace. Tanya glared at her.

Falcone was leading the way, and took the three down an expansive imperial staircase, before entering an elevator that took them down four more levels. When they exited, Tanya was familiarized with the sterile hallway and rows of doors, which was much more akin to your typical working laboratory.

She followed them down three separate hallways, before stopping at an unmarked room. Falcone opened the fireproof door to it, its heaviness causing it to squeak angrily against the hinges holding it up.

Black epoxy benchtops lined the walls of the long room, with multiple computers and laboratory equipment set atop their surfaces. Cabinets showed a full stock of supplies, too, which meant that this place was still actively used.

At the end of the room, set up in the corner, was the gateway generator, rebuilt as if Tanya was looking at it in her and Buzz's workshop again. The blonde duck sucked in a gasp, her eyes studying it carefully for any signs of damage or modifications.

Her gaze finally fell to a snively middle-aged man standing next to it, currently slouched over and typing on a computer. He had glanced up at their entrance but was not interested enough to start a conversation.

"Fortaineau," Falcone stated as they neared him. "We have your—"

"Dammit!" Fortaineau cursed his interruption, one of his hands angrily slapping the monitor. "I am _so_ close! That blasted little brat, if he'd just given me his formula, I could've had this set up already!"

Falcone cleared his throat. "Which is _why_ we've brought Ms. Tanya Vanderflock along." He melodramatically introduced her with a bow, and Lucretia shoved her forward a couple steps for emphasis.

Tanya stared Fortaineau down, her head held high.

He stared right back at her, his own expression one of disgust. "How can a _bird-brain_ possibly know how to correctly input these coordinates?"

The blonde engineer opened her beak to give a piece of her mind, but was ironically cut off by her cousin. "That _bird-brain_," Lucretia said the insult with thick condescension, "happened to have built the gateway generator over there, which—correct me if I'm wrong—you and Mr. Viper were unable to successfully produce, even with all those Raptor files you managed to retrieve."

She had walked around Tanya as she spoke, her arms crossed as she casually made her way between Fortaineau and the generator. He only snarled at her.

"That was different! She had the help of a child prodigy to create not only the generator, but its power source as well. We spent months just decrypting those damn files!"

"I wasn't his a-assistant," Tanya grumbled.

"All right, I think that's enough," Falcone called out, stepping between Lucretia and Fortaineau. "A deal is a deal. We've brought you the brains of your operation, and in turn Lucretia and myself would like to exit stage left, if you catch my drift." Coming up to the large control panel, which seemed to be connected to the gateway generator, the Raptrin reached for a red T-shaped device that was plugged into its side.

Lucretia's transporter.

Fortaineau darted into his path. "Absolutely not! It is still copying the data!"

Falcone growled out in frustration. "It's been copying the data for two days now! How much longer do you need?!"

"Do you have any idea how many coordinates are on this thing?!" the man defiantly explained. "There might be infinite worlds out there, but I think the Saurians had managed to track down half of them! The data is not anything I've ever seen before, either," he said and turned towards the monitor again, "and I've really only begun to decode the information."

"We don't need the transporter." Lucretia reached out and placed a calming hand on Falcone's arm. "We just need the gateway opened and we can be on our way."

The Raptrin, teeth still barred, didn't say anything in response. He turned to look at Fortaineau expectantly.

"Yes, of course," the man answered, standing up straighter and adjusting his necktie. "Let us transfer the data we do have for Puckworld to the machine, and you can be on your merry way."

All three conversers looked to the fourth occupant in the room. Tanya took in a shaky breath.

"A deal's a deal, love," Falcone said again, giving her a knowing look.

The blonde duck swallowed her fear long enough to reply, "Right." Lucretia smiled warmly at her and came back around to guide Tanya towards the computer, Fortaineau stepping out of the way in the process.

"Well then," she said happily, "let's get started!"

* * *

_Three hours later_

"Didn't we just do this, like … six hours ago?"

Wildwing let out an irritated sigh at his younger brother's remark, the Mask still humming as he scanned the perimeter of what was supposedly Viper's research laboratory.

"Let's not blow this building up though," Buzz agreed. That earned him three hard stares to which he hastily defended with, "Your ticket home is inside!"

"Security isn't as robust here," Wildwing commented instead, changing the subject. "I don't think they anticipated you knowing the location, Buzz."

"All it takes is a few seconds of reading," the preteen affirmed, tapping his temple.

The captain was still studying the large structure, and opted to speak his observations out loud as he did so. "Five floors above ground. Security out front and on ground level. It looks like the building goes below the mountain, two floors, maybe more. The Mask can't see farther than that ... the underground levels have a steel and concrete-fortified framework. Probably means the building goes down a ways."

Nosedive inwardly groaned at that. Instead of going up a million floors, they were probably going to have to go down, and would inevitably end up having to escape before it somehow caved in on them.

Dude, he was getting pessimistic in his old age, he mused.

"There's a small outcropping on the lower level, at the base of the mountain," Wildwing continued. "Maybe a loading dock. No guards posted." His hands fell away from the Mask, turning to his teammates. "That's our way in."

Nosedive snapped his fingers disappointedly. "And here I thought I was gonna monster-truck it again."

The team of four, parked relatively far away and behind a large rockface, made their way out of the Migrator and towards the laboratory. The cover of night in the remote desert landscape was more than enough to keep their trek inconspicuous along the way, and within minutes they were at its perimeter.

Wildwing scanned with the Mask again, voicing assurances to the others that there were no security scanners in place. While the look of Viper's research building appeared fancy on the outside, it was clear that this place was older, and definitely outdated compared to the newer tech they saw at Adder Telecommunications. Nosedive supposed Viper had rarely used this building, at least until he had rudely stolen the ducks' ticket home.

His older brother ushered the team to the outcropping he'd seen, and upon entry to the area Nosedive noted that it was in fact not a loading dock, but some sort of garden oasis. The group was silent as they walked through it, the only sound coming from various plants or cacti rustling in the cold breeze that wafted through.

There was a lone camera along the exterior wall, with a red dot indicating it was online. Staying at the corner of the lush garden, Wildwing adjusted the settings on his forearm weapon and aimed carefully. With a wispy _thwip,_ a small puck sailed through the air and opened up en route, releasing a thick fog.

With only a wave, Wildwing led the rest of the team to the old door. Under Grin's forceful turn of the knob, the locking mechanism crumpled and the door easily opened with nothing more than a protesting creak.

Shutting the door quietly behind them, Wildwing once again scanned the room. He stiffened immediately, but relaxed after a moment.

"Bro?" Nosedive worriedly prompted. It was completely pitch black inside, but with Wildwing's scan an eerie red glow from the Mask illuminated the group enough that he saw his brother's reaction.

"Snakes," the captain finally said, his eyes still searching around, "a _lot _of snakes."

"_What?_"

"They're in cages," Wildwing reassured. As the Mask's glowing eyes resided, he turned on a small blue backlight from his COM unit instead, giving the group a small amount of visibility.

"Probably an animal lab," Buzz stated. "I bet that garden outside is _full_ of them."

"_What."_

"It's nighttime, though, so they're all burrowed. You know, unless Viper genetically-engineered them to be warm-blooded reptiles." Buzz lightly laughed at that, a quip that fell flat with the three ducks accompanying him.

"This day keeps getting better and better," the teenage duck grumbled.

"Grin, make sure Buzz stays close to you," Wildwing instructed, to which the big duck simply nodded in affirmation. "Stairs are on the far side of the room. We make our way up, _silently_, and find Tanya."

"What about the gateway generator?" Nosedive asked.

Wildwing looked at Buzz. "You know more than anyone what Viper was planning to do. I don't know what Falcone or Lucretia can accomplish without him, even with holding Tanya captive—"

"His scientist guy seemed to know a lot," Buzz cut in thoughtfully, pressing his glasses back up on his nose. "And he got away, right? I bet he's here, too."

"Then we need to get you to the generator and stop whatever it is they are planning to do," the captain ordered. "If it has anything to do with time travel—"

"I'm so not wanting a spinoff of _Groundhog Day_," Nosedive interrupted with a groan.

"—then it is imperative you stop it, Buzz," Wildwing finished, casting a glare at his little brother. "And that means destroying the generator, if you have to. Understood?"

"Wing—!"

"You want Dragaunus back in the picture, Dive?" Wildwing shot, turning to him. "We have no control over what they could do if they successfully went back in time. And I don't want to find out."

The youngest Mighty Duck was silent at that remark. He had a fierce frown etched in his brow, though, barely visible with the residual light of Wildwing's COM, and he turned away from his brother without responding.

The white drake calmed his next words: "I want to go home, too. But we've come too far to let them destroy everything we've done here." He activated his energy shield, looking to Grin and Buzz. "I'll lead. Buzz will stay behind Grin, and Nosedive, you watch our back. Single file, quickly and quietly."

Despite his rising frustrations, Nosedive responded resolutely with, "Roger that, Bro." The siblings shared a wordless look, at that, and Nosedive hoped his expression relayed to Wildwing that his head was still in the game.

He wasn't stupid. He knew Wildwing was right. And like his older brother, they both wished, more than anything, it wouldn't come down to a decision like destroying the generator. But if it did, Nosedive also knew that he couldn't—_wouldn't_—hesitate to act, either.

Even if it meant never seeing Puckworld again.

"Let your actions be bigger than your fears," Grin solemnly expressed … or possibly agreed. Nosedive had learned a lot from Grin throughout these last two years on Earth, but his words of wisdom were sometimes more cryptic than profound, and were almost always a puzzle piece that just didn't quite fit into the conversation.

As they made their way through the long, dark corridor, columns of various enclosures surrounded them, at least by what could be seen with the projection of Wildwing's shield. Within those cages were a multitude of heat lamps, as well, strategically placed within each of the glass containers to provide dim, red silhouettes of rocks and plants from inside.

It was silent, deathly silent, aside for their footsteps as they traversed its length. Grin walked sans weapon, but Nosedive had his puck-launcher out, eyeing each cage to see any telltale signs of slithering from within.

A distant rattle made the entire procession halt. Wildwing, with the glow of his shield, turned to look down either side of their path, and then back at Grin and Nosedive. Buzz kept close to the pacifist, his blonde hair reflecting a subtle tint of green in the blue light surrounding him.

Nosedive supposed his hair didn't look much better, in that regard.

Another rattle followed shortly after the first, though no real direction could be pinpointed.

Eventually Nosedive and Grin shrugged back at Wildwing, neither seeing anything. Buzz shook his head as well, still warily glancing around. Nosedive wondered, for at least the tenth time since they entered this building, why none of them thought to grab a damn flashlight before they left.

Wildwing, seemingly satisfied that whatever noise they kept hearing was not an immediate threat, continued his walk to the far side, the rest of the team following.

More rattling erupted, longer and unnervingly closer this time. Nosedive checked the floors, the neighboring cages, and the ceiling above, just for thoroughness. Nothing.

"Is there a way to tell a snake to shut up?" Nosedive whispered to no one in particular. "I'm getting real tired of—WHOA!"

A snake head had materialized out of nowhere, and was about an inch from Nosedive's beak. Around that snake's head was Grin's hefty hand, holding the reptile from going any farther. It rattled and thrashed angrily, but the gray duck's grip on it kept its head stationary and its jaws (thankfully) clamped shut.

"Chill, little Saurian friend," Grin simply said. He walked over to a nearby cage, which appeared to be open, and placed the snake inside. It slithered into a defensive coil immediately, rattling its tail threateningly as Grin simply closed the gate and locked it.

"Where—what—why—" Nosedive tried to form words, but wheezed them out instead.

"You okay, Baby Bro?" Wildwing worriedly walked up, using his shield light to check him over. "How'd that thing get loose?" He turned to Buzz and Grin when Nosedive continued to open and shut his beak, multiple times, and with no successful verbage.

"Dunno. Looks like he came from that cage though," Buzz said, walking up to the glass and tapping it. The snake hissed in response, snapping its jaws once and making the young boy jump back. "Cool! I think it's a western diamondback rattlesnake!" he added excitedly, not at all perturbed by the fact that the reptile had just tried to bite him.

"He was protecting his home, as we are," Grin said, watching as the snake turned to briefly look at him. It continued to rattle its tail, slowly moving side to side but staying coiled and ready to strike.

Buzz hummed. "That's probably true. I mean, he leapt at Dive from the opening. I guess they just forgot to lock it?"

Nosedive gurgled a nonverbal response, eyeing the snake that was now staring at him.

"Maybe," Wildwing noncommittally replied. "Well, good catch anyways, Grin," he praised, patting him on the arm. "Let's get out of here before we discover any more unlocked cages."

"Agreed!" Buzz said, getting behind the large gray duck again. The boy turned and smiled cheekily at Nosedive. "Coming, Dive?"

The teenager, remembering once more how to blink and swallow, shook off the last of his shock and hurriedly returned to the line formation. The snake that had tried to attack continued to stare him down the entire time, its tail rattling subtlety.

Taunting him, surely.

As they moved farther out, Nosedive felt more assured that the slithery creature was truly locked in its habitat and was not just waiting to lunge when his guard was down. As the group reached the stairs, the teenage duck took a hesitant glance back at the reptile, and found it still watching. Waiting.

He glared triumphantly, then stuck his tongue out at it.

Even at their distance from one another, the snake rattled its tail in response, lashing out at him from behind the glass. Nosedive yipped and shuddered, earning a harsh shushing from Wildwing. He sheepishly whispered an apology and mentally added snakes—or rather, mini Saurians of doom—to his growing list of reasons to leave Earth and never look back.

The group successfully made their way up the stairs, towards the door leading further into the building. The barrier was windowless, so Wildwing carefully inched it open, allowing bright fluorescent lighting into their surroundings.

Activating the Mask once more, he checked the hall through the cracked door before muttering, "No one on this level." He tried looking up, then down, and sighed. "Concrete is too thick down here to see the other floors."

Just as they dared to step into the lighted path, however, muffled blasts made everyone's eyes widen.

"Where's that coming from?!" Nosedive demanded, puck-launcher out and ready.

There was another, more prominent, explosion, still heavily silenced by the heavy framework of the underground floors. Crumbs of plaster shook loose along the borders of a nearby vent above them.

They didn't need any more guidance. Wildwing quickly led them to the closest stairwell up.

* * *

_Note: A big thank you to __raphlover2012 for the snake idea, and getting me out of my writer's block. :)_


	10. Finding Yesterday

_Eagle Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park – present day_

Tanya huffed. While she was not opposed to manual labor, it was becoming increasingly annoying that the other three occupants of the room just _watched_ her as she would routinely type away on the computer, hurry over to the gateway generator to adjust some settings, and then return to the computer to recalibrate.

When she and Buzz had worked together, she'd manually tweak the generator's mainframe while he updated their programming on the nearby workstation. They were such a great team, too: it'd only taken them a month to get his lab-made beryllium's energy to successfully transfer to the machine.

A wash of worry pushed its way through as she thought about the young boy. The last she had heard, he had been rescued and was with Grin, while the others were somehow still escaping a collapsing building. They had gotten Buzz out apparently, but must have gone back to capture Viper.

After all, Viper wasn't here, either.

Her mind kept playing the devil's advocate, however, providing alternative scenarios where the others had failed, that they couldn't get out of the building's collapse zone in time, or that maybe Viper had perished, simultaneously taking them all out in one last fit of extreme vengeance.

The blonde duck had stopped herself from asking any of these pressing questions out loud, despite the negative thoughts burning into her conscience. The less she spoke the better, as she would likely—though unintentionally—tell them more than they would ever tell her. She wasn't clever with her words like Duke.

She checked the time on her Omnitool, realizing that the gray drake would've woken up from the Medicom by now, hopefully with all of his injuries healed. He, nor the others, would have any idea where she was.

She let out a sigh, her fingers nimbly pulling out a wire within the generator to splice it. She should've left some kind of hint on where they would be taking her, but everything had happened so _fast_. She deftly separated the wiring and added connectors to it, plugging them into the mainframe.

A shaky exhale escaped. Almost done.

With the coordinates to Puckworld pulled up from Lucretia's transporter, it would be mere minutes before Lucretia and Falcone went home. _Her _home. And then who knows what Fortaineau would make her do. An idle glance his way showed him holding a gun, though not very confidently. He didn't trust any of them.

Lucretia and Falcone didn't matter. They were vile excuses for ducks, yes, but ultimately they just wanted to go home, too. She could potentially stop Fortaineau, however, in the few seconds that Lucretia and Falcone escaped. She would have to find a way to destabilize the portal, perhaps, and shove Fortaineau inside. And all without getting shot, ideally.

Okay. She could do this.

For Buzz; for her team.

For Duke.

"Any time this _century_, Tanya," Falcone exasperatedly said, leaning against a laboratory bench with his arms crossed.

Lucretia, on the opposite side of the control panel Tanya was working at, leaned over one of the monitors curiously. Her arms were close together as she lifted herself on her tiptoes, one foot popping up like she was a kid waiting for cupcakes to get frosted.

"Looks complicated," she innocently commented.

Tanya gave her a sharp look. "Don't act like y-you don't know this."

The purple haired duck slowly lifted her gaze up to meet her cousin's, a small smirk forming on the edge of her beak. "Believe me, sweety, play innocent until proven guilty." She let out a big hum, standing back to trace the edge of one of the monitors with her index finger. "You'd be amazed at what you can get away with."

"Enough talking," Fortaineau forcefully interrupted and stepped forward. "Are we ready to open the portal?"

"I sh-should run some sim-simulations first—"

"No," the older man interjected again, this time his gun raising towards Tanya. "I can see from here, you've successfully transferred the coordinates over. Beryllium energy is at full power. _Open the portal_."

"My, it's almost as if he's just itching to get rid of us," Falcone sarcastically noted, hands on his waist. He gave a meaningful look to Lucretia. "Ready to go home, love?"

She gave him a huge smile in return, one of the first genuine ones Tanya had seen from Lucretia since … well, since she _became_ Lucretia. She nodded to the Raptrin, before giving a sweet shrug to Tanya. "It's been a hoot, T-belle, as always."

"Start the process!" Fortaineau yelled.

Tanya executed the program with trembling fingers.

There was a residual, mechanical hum, followed by sudden sounds of heavy voltage traversing the length of wires strewn about the floor, moving in the direction of the gateway generator. Behind it, the beryllium crystals were on a large pedestal, previously dull but now brightly pulsating in orange hues.

For a moment, it seemed like that was all that had happened. Then, with a loud _POP_ from the front of the machine, a small distortion of spacetime began to develop. It swirled, first nearly white like a flash bomb in slow motion, and then it grew, vivid colors sparking like fireworks around its border.

The wind picked up, papers around the laboratory fluttering through the air. One of Tanya's hands instinctively grasped the edge of the control panel, and in her peripheral vision she saw Lucretia holding onto the other side. A wary glance her way saw absolute fear etched across her cousin's face as she gaped at the portal's formation, the scene most likely reminiscent of her trip through Dimensional Limbo.

Nearly maniacal laughter suddenly filled the silence of the room—aside for the gale force winds that continued to grow—and Tanya looked back at Fortaineau staring at the gateway, hands in the air as if he was cheering, and his gun now loosely aimed at the ceiling.

Falcone, watching everything unfold as well, took a few steps closer as the portal began to open, now wide enough to see through. Instead of the generator that used to be there, Tanya could see the formation of some interior room. Perhaps an office?

Her eyes went back to the control panel, the coordinates showing Puckworld as intended. And yet … something didn't feel right.

She studied the swirling colors, then watched as the office beyond took shape like some sort of pixelated picture downloading on a slow connection. A blur suddenly moved from within, freezing Tanya to the core.

No words could be formed in time. As Falcone stepped forward, hand outstretched towards Lucretia to beckon her over, a silhouette boldly appeared at the wormhole's center, some sort of weapon within his possession.

Viper wasted no time stepping through the portal and into the laboratory, his custom rifle instantly firing on Falcone and Lucretia. The former managed to dive behind a laboratory bench, while the latter took cover behind the other side of the control panel.

Tanya, already backed against the computers and with nowhere to escape, held both hands up in surrender. Viper looked at her, his dark eyebrows furrowing as he studied her but did not fire his weapon. With his gun still aimed in Falcone and Lucretia's general direction, he looked over at Fortaineau and smiled.

"Ah, James, it is good to see you," he said, glancing at his watch without lowering his aim, "a whole minute after seeing you last, no less!"

Fortaineau grinned at him like the Cheshire Cat. "Phineas, it worked!" He looked past Viper and into the office beyond, a stark room with slick-black tiling and walls. "I see the time inside; it appears our calculations were correct!"

"Yes, indeed," he noted, his attention returning to the occupants still hiding. "It also appears that the child was of no use to us, as we had feared."

Tanya heard a small movement behind her, most likely Lucretia shifting. She wondered if she could see Falcone at all from her hidden position.

"No, we were unable to extract information before the ducks ruined everything. You," he paused, head briefly bowing in respect, "you perished in your reactor during our retreat."

Despite the solemn words, Viper let out an inappropriate roar of laughter, his slick black hair bouncing from his overdramatic movements. "I guess it's good we had planned in advance, then!"

"You traitor!" Lucretia cried out, her voice carrying from somewhere to the right of the room. Tanya was afraid to move, however, with Viper's gun only one swivel away from aiming at her.

"That's rich coming from you, deary," Viper hollered back, taking a few brazen steps forward while searching the room. "We can still bring you home, of course," he added, "_if_ you help us get Dragaunus' Raptor."

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," Falcone complained, also still hiding.

"I had once been promised the Earth from him," Viper stated, ignoring Falcone's gripe. "Fate had other plans in store, unfortunately," he paused, pointedly glancing at Tanya. "Thankfully, fate doesn't get to call the shots. It's time we take matters into our own hands."

"You can't just go b-back in time and steal the R-Raptor," Tanya found the courage to argue.

"Just like you can't go back in time to bring me back?" Viper countered evenly. "If you are referring to paradoxes, duck, then you're not taking into account the theory of parallel universes."

"B-but you're changing an alternate timeline!" she insisted. "It might not b-be here, but—"

A wayward shot flew a foot next to Tanya's face, making her yelp and instinctively hide her head behind her arms.

"I'm well aware of what will happen to that alternate timeline," Viper said, a snarl in his tone. "But that is none of my concern. Dragaunus promised me the world, and I will ensure that future for myself, no matter how many times I have to die to acquire it!"

"Well, in that case—!"

Falcone, with saber drawn, jumped out of his hiding spot, slicing through the air with what looked like a super-heated blade. Viper hollered and shot his weapon, but only a few wayward bullets released before the barrel of the gun was partially melted off from the sword's swipe.

The Raptrin let out a loud grunt, the blade already dulling in its glow by the time he came back around to try and slash Viper. The relatively smaller man was strong, however, and brought the remainder of his rifle up to block the attack.

Fortaineau, in the background, shakily held his gun at the battling duo, trying to get his own shot in.

Recognizing a distraction when she saw one, Tanya whirled around to try and figure out how Fortaineau had replaced Puckworld's information with their own. She needed to get into the audit logs, to see if she could track down the real Puckworld coordinates. Fear suddenly rose up, however, and she frantically wondered if he had overridden them. Was their way home lost forever? She was typing crazily now, her eyes searching the data that populated. How had they been able to not only decipher the transporter language, but also program it to go back in time, anyways?

Her rapid flow of thoughts hitched, however, when she glanced over and saw that the transporter was no longer connected to the machine. Looking up, she made out the subtle swing of the laboratory's door on the far side of the room. Lucretia had already escaped with it.

Another heavy, well-timed _POP_ reverberated behind the blonde duck, forcing her to turn around and see that the portal had become unstable with the loss of coordinates guiding its destination. Neither Viper nor Falcone seemed to be paying enough attention to notice, however, both still struggling to gain the upper hand. Fortaineau was useless as ever, trying to help his boss out where he could, but really only spectating the scene before him with anxious eyes and an even shakier trigger finger.

There was no time to waste. Tanya slammed her hand on a button to initiate the emergency shutdown protocol, to close down the portal before it became so unstable that it imploded in on itself. She scrambled around the control panel and down to the exit door to follow her cousin before she got too far away.

More shots erupted as she rounded the corner, and it was only a second later that she realized there were a few fresh bullet holes in the plaster, right where she had just been.

She risked a glance behind her but didn't see anyone following. Maybe they were just more wayward shots from the ongoing battle. Returning her focus ahead, Tanya pulled out her Omnitool and quickly scanned the hallway.

One amazing fact about beryllium was its unique molecular signature. Even after transferring its energy to another device, its remnants remained in the air for a half-life of a few minutes.

That meant she could scan the atmosphere and follow its trace throughout this maze of labs.

Checking behind her once more, Tanya kept her forearm in front of her, tracking Lucretia's path.

She would _not_ let her get away this time.

* * *

_Puckworld – nineteen months into the Saurian War_

Falcone sat on a bench, in a park, with small flurries of snow lightly coating the ground. His heavy red cape was draped around him, protecting him from the elements, even though it was technically spring in DuCaine Metropolis. Despite the light layer of white, the sun was shining pretty brilliantly, the previous red haze of the city nothing but a distant memory.

The Raptrin's hood was up, hiding his face. His hands held the small red device that had been attached to his person for over a year, now. His feathered finger pressed lightly against the point of it, before turning it around in his hands some more.

A couple walked past him, his eyes glancing briefly up as they hurried past. Their conversation was light and lively.

More ducks traversed the streets beyond. Construction crews lined nearly every block along the main drag, tirelessly working to rebuild what had been lost.

It'd been six months since the Master Tower blipped into existence, its cloaking device damaged beyond repair. The Tower had taken on massive amounts of damage, the remaining drones and Saurians inside too broken and weakened to do much else. It had been easy for the remaining Resistance to take them down, once and for all.

Dragaunus had never been located, however. He had disappeared before troops even arrived. Rumors had spread rampantly after that, about a Strike Force team that had taken the Saurian Overlord out, probably within the same explosion that had torn asunder the Master Tower's control center.

But no one knew for sure. Dragaunus was simply gone, and any members of the Strike Force merely hearsay.

Without the mothership's control, the substations scattered throughout the planet had lost communication, as well as their main network. Factories could no longer produce drones and Raptors could no longer bring in reinforcements.

Two months after Dragaunus' death, all enslavement camps had been freed. Three months after that, all Raptors had been officially shut down.

Today, one month later, news stations announced that all drone armies had been completely destroyed. Puckworld had finally been rid of all Saurian infiltration. Today, the world announced the official end of the Saurian War.

Falcone let out a long, slow breath, watching as it condensed in the frigid air in front of him. His eyes returned to the transporter in his grip. He had wanted to destroy it since he learned that Dragaunus was gone. Hell, he had wanted to destroy it the day he'd been given it. But, even without Dragaunus at the helm, the transporter still had functional programming. If he purposely destroyed or lost it, any remaining Raptors or drones would be triggered to hunt him down.

The transporter's coding wasn't on the Saurian's network, at least not completely. It was a product of Old Ways magic, something that had been covered up by the government for some time, now.

After all, you couldn't make a war-torn world band back together with traitors in the midst. Ducks that were still under the brainwashing spells of Wraith's ancestors had been forcefully placed in "rehabilitation" centers across the world, overseen by the Council and kept under wraps as much as possible.

Falcone felt himself stand, one of his hands gripping the transporter tight enough to hurt. He marched back into the street and took a shortcut through a nearby alleyway, back into areas where reconstruction had not yet started.

Today also marked his first true day of freedom. With no drones remaining on the planet, he could finally destroy his transporter. He would no longer be under the Saurians' control, not now and not ever again.

He hadn't lifted a finger to help the Saurians after Dragaunus' demise, but he had still felt chained to them. In fact, months ago he had rejoined the Brotherhood, the only place he ever truly felt at home. But now, even that had begun to feel suffocating, especially with Duke's brother Colin still leading. It was unlikely he'd stay much longer.

Coming up to an empty clearing, he studied the surroundings to ensure his solitude. Building debris was still strewn about, but more dangerous areas had at least been marked off with caution tape. Satisfied that he was alone, Falcone placed the transporter on a broken column.

He stared long and hard at it, his hand coming up to pull his saber off his shoulder holster.

With a press of a button, his saber materialized to its full length. Another couple button presses later, the blade began to heat up, the beryllium in the hilt discharging its energy to make the metal hot enough to melt steel.

It didn't last long, of course, but it didn't need to for this task.

A beep threw off Falcone's concentration. He warily glanced at the transporter as green words cascaded down its tiny screen.

"No," he breathed.

The world around him disappeared in a terribly familiar swirl of colors. Even as he tried to back away and run, the portal seemed to pull him backwards, and in an instant he was no longer on Puckworld.

Falcone fell to his knees, and Dragaunus glared down at him as Siege stepped on his hand, keeping him from lifting his white-hot saber. The beryllium energy was already spent, however, and the blade was beginning to return to its former color.

Today was supposed to be his day of _freedom_. The Raptrin grunted in pain as Siege shifted his foot on his hand, long enough to bend down and pick up the sword.

It had been nineteen months since the War began; six months since Dragaunus had been defeated. And now ... now he was back to square one.


	11. A Lullaby to Remember

_Eagle Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park – yesterday_

Lucretia hummed a Puckworld lullaby, one of the few songs she could remember from her younger years. The tune was meant to be low and quiet, but her voice ended up echoing across the large room, creating an eerie resonance to what was an already somber melody.

It didn't bother her enough to stop, though. So many of her memories from home were jumbled or lost, a collection of puzzle pieces that could not be put back together. This tiny recollection of Puckworld's culture was undeniably comforting. It had only been one revolution since she'd seen her home world—at least by Falcone's estimation—but the time away felt like an eternity.

_—You are a disgrace to the PIA—_

_—Lucy, t-talk to me, what did they d-do to you?—_

_—So naïve. Did you think the Council would just let you take down one of their own?—_

Her hand went to her head and she hissed, the flashes of memories so sudden and overwhelming that she lost sight for a second.

A few deep breaths later, she straightened herself up, glancing over to the far side of the vast storage room. Falcone was deep in conversation with his communication device, his broad shoulders partially hiding his face. As if sensing her gaze, however, he glanced up and winked, their distance from each other making his words too subdued to hear. Supposedly, he was discussing plans with Viper on the other end of the line.

She sighed, resuming her humming and walking through the maze of crates and salvaged Raptor parts. Her hand traced the contours of a few taller items as she slowly meandered, her new black boots clicking with each step.

_"T-belle, you have to get me out of here."_

_"Lucy, they're s-saying you t-tried to frame Re-representative Solone."_

_"I didn't frame him! Do you have any idea what I caught that creep doing?!"_

_"I kn-know, but—"_

_"Check the tapes! The victims' testimonies!"_

_"Lucy, it's all gone. Th-there is no tape. The v-victims are saying he wasn't there, at all."_

_"No, that can't—they're covering it up, Tanya. They're threatening those girls to change their story. You have to believe me! I can't stay here, they're injecting me with something, it's … I can't think straight, I feel like I'm losing my mind!"_

_"Lucy—"_

_"Hey! Get off of me!"_

_"Lucy?!"_

_"Stop! I have my rights! Tanya! Please—"_

Lucretia's fingers trembled along a chunk of bloodred alloy, her body halting as the sudden sensation of ice pumped through her veins. She withdrew her hand to cross both arms protectively over herself, taking a few more long, deep breaths. Eventually, the voices inside her head faded, their linked memories dissipating with each slow release of air.

Regaining control once again, Lucretia resumed her languid walk through the underground room. Her arms remained tightly wrapped around herself, however, an internal chill lingering despite the new black jacket Falcone had given her to wear. She kept her gaze on what appeared to be mostly debris, either giant unlabeled boxes or broken panels of Raptor wall with built-in circuitry, all neatly laid out in a grid pattern. She inexplicably continued to hum, as well, the song rooting her to reality and to a past she actually _wanted_ to remember.

As she turned the corner, she noticed a pile of smaller items strewn about a large workshop table, situated along the far wall. Curiosity piqued, her pace became more determined as she approached it, inspecting the gadgets that had been retrieved from Dragaunus' destroyed warship.

Her hand picked up a handheld remote, thin for a Saurian's grip but nearly the same size as Lucretia's hand. Her thumb traced the control panel on its side, indecipherable characters etched into each button.

Her brow furrowed ever so slightly.

"I know that tune."

Lucretia blinked out of her studious observation, eyes traveling to the Raptrin suddenly standing next to her.

"_A Legacy of Promise_," she confirmed simply, attention once again on the contraption in her possession.

"Ah, yes, an enchanting ditty for the ducklings." He glanced over the random devices on the table with her, picking up what looked like a sliver of beryllium. "You know, supposedly DuCaine himself sang that song to his daughter."

Lucretia let out an even breath of amusement. "Everyone knows that, darling. That's why it's a lullaby."

Pocketing the beryllium, Falcone rested one of his elbows on the table, leaning against it so he could turn and face Lucretia. He gave her a charming smile before softly singing, _"Night has fallen, the stars above us shine—"_

She quirked a brow at him, pocketing her own newly found trinket.

"_Please fear not, little one, dreaming of better days—"_

She rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't stop the small smile from creeping up. When she started to turn away from him, he reached out and gently grasped her arm.

_"The battle is won, a legacy born—"_

Straightening up from the table, he pulled her to him. _"And the promise of peace unforsaken—"_

One hand wrapped around her waist, his other coming up to caress the side of her face. _"For you're my everything." _

She didn't push away from him, a moment of paralyzing fear and uncertainty coursing through her. But it faded as quickly as it came, a mask of neutrality replacing whatever had been briefly exposed.

Ignoring Falcone's previous serenade, not to mention their current positioning, she asked, "Did they acquire the human child, yet?"

Lucretia's companion let out a short breath, his own expression unreadable. He kept his grip close to her hips, while his other hand softly brushed a strand of her hair away before dropping to his side.

"Not yet. They're waiting until the afternoon."

"And the gateway?"

"They need the boy to get through security."

"Mm-hmm."

"What's this?" Falcone suddenly asked, bringing his free hand back up to reveal the remote she had just put away.

Lucretia smirked at him as her eyes followed his, watching as he turned the device over curiously. "Showing off your own pickpocket skills?" she teased.

"Can't be one-upped, love."

"It's Dragaunus' invisibility cloak."

"Interesting," he mused, also studying the characters imprinted along its numerous buttons. "I thought for sure this would have disintegrated in the blast."

"Perhaps he had more than one? After all, it's the same tech that was built into the walls of the Raptor." Lucretia looked across the basement for emphasis, enticing Falcone to do the same.

He shrugged when he turned back to her. Lucretia felt his free hand shift this time, though now it was from him returning the device inside her jacket pocket. "Finders keepers," he murmured.

There was a brief pause, then, with neither breaking eye contact. "Plan to use that little invention to infiltrate the Pond?" he asked, cutting the silence.

"Not necessary," she easily answered.

They were both quiet again, each self-proclaimed traitor scrutinizing the other. Falcone's hand was still grasping her waist, while the other hand's fingers hung loosely—almost playfully—from the lip of her jacket pocket.

Lucretia knew she was not an easy duck to read—after all, she had made a life out of being deceitful—but Falcone was equally adept at neutralizing his expressions. More so, in some ways, because even she could not determine what actions of his were sincere, and what were a method of manipulation.

A part of her wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

With a big, dramatic hum, Falcone stepped away from Lucretia, his grip on her slipping away as he turned and headed back towards the exit. "Don't have too much fun in here, love. I'm off to become the bait."

He was at the door before she finally called sweetly after him with, "Good luck," her arm up but only her fingers waving at him. He briefly glanced her way before disappearing up the stairs.

The door to the storage room creaked closed, leaving Lucretia alone. She took in a shaky breath, a hand absently checking to make sure the cloaking device was still in her pocket.

Viper would be kidnapping the child prodigy soon. Shortly afterwards, Falcone would be purposely caught by the other ducks, giving Lucretia time to break into the Pond and retrieve the data they needed.

Everything was falling into place. By this time tomorrow she would be _home_.

Lucretia slowly started retracing Falcone's steps to the exit, her humming resuming once again.

_Find strength in me, I'll hold you up_

_My world is yours, now and always_

_A legacy of promise, to you_

_Sleep now, my love, peace is unforsaken_

_For you're my everything_

* * *

_Eagle Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park – present day_

Tanya had no idea just how _massive_ Viper's research laboratory was. She'd gone down three levels via a stairwell, and came upon yet another extensive hallway, more rows of unmarked doors lining each side.

Her Omnitool guided her, a tiny digital map of an invisible energy signature leading the way. She was sans weapon, unless you wanted to count her customized addition of Puckworld Special Forces' laser technology built into her wearable toolkit.

It wouldn't do much more than scorch a nice welt in someone, but it was something.

The trail of beryllium turned abruptly into a closed door. Tanya slowed to a stop, glancing at it and the otherwise empty hallway. The lights were dimmer in here than on the higher levels, possibly to conserve energy.

…Or possibly because the gateway took out the building's power. She'd noticed some flickering at one point in her trek downstairs, most likely from the shutdown protocol she'd executed before hightailing it out of there. Any potential surge from that machine would be more than enough to trip the building's circuit breaker, if not the better part of eastern California. And a place like this would surely have a backup generator built into it, to provide minimal lighting throughout the windowless floors.

She was stalling. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Tanya pushed the door open.

A beaker exploded in front of her, making her yelp and drop behind the closest laboratory bench. Another puck sailed past immediately afterwards, leaving a sizeable hole in the far wall. Tiny glass shards tinged against the floor and crunched beneath Tanya's shoes as she pressed herself against the heavy table.

"Sorry, T-belle, couldn't resist picking up this little knickknack from the Aerowing!"

_Of course she couldn't_, Tanya grumbled internally. She punched a few buttons on her Omnitool, readying its laser. A small charging whir started spinning within the components, before the mouth of the weapon raised up and out of the chassis.

"Honestly, cousin, are we even on warring sides anymore?" Lucretia asked from somewhere across the room. "I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want that snake's future."

"D-didn't bother you before," Tanya muttered loud enough to be heard, distractedly typing away on her Omnitool. The scanner mechanism emitted a small light, showing her the end of the beryllium's trail, about three rows of laboratory benches down. Lucretia was approximately fifteen feet away from her.

"Can you blame me? I just want to go _home_, T-belle."

"So d-do we!"

"Well _you_ weren't the one that pulled me out of that prison!" she accused with a yell. "You have no _idea_ what it was like, Tanya. Not there, and definitely not in the Council's idea of _rehab_!"

"I t-tired to get you out of th-there, Lucy! We even h-had a court date set, I was—"

"Right, you were doing everything by the damn book to get me free," she sarcastically interrupted. "Just like saving me from that nightmare time capsule was supposedly in the works, too. It certainly never stopped you from letting your captain lock me in there, in the first place!"

"Lucy—"

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT!"

Tanya silenced herself, hearing the break in Lucretia's shrill tone. She kept a close eye on her Omnitool, her heart beating faster when she heard the slightest amount of shuffling behind her.

"Lucy Vanderflock died a long time ago, thanks to the PIA." The voice was calmer again, but clearly strained. Tanya heard another crunch, her arm coming up defensively as she kept her crouch. Her scanner told her Lucretia was on the move, now only two benches away.

"I guess I did give them their comeuppance in the end," she drawled, her voice directionless in the long, narrow room. "And now, dear T-belle, you and your team have to pay the price, as well."

It was now or never.

Tanya jumped up and spun around, aiming her Omnitool out, right where the last remnants of beryllium energy remained.

No one was there.

Her eyes searched the room, panicking. Where—

Tanya's arm was swatted to the side by an invisible force, followed by what felt like a solid kick to her abdomen. She grunted hard as she fell backwards onto the floor and skidded, having seemingly been attacked by a _ghost_.

"What's the matter, T-belle? You should be used to fighting your enemies _blind_."

With no real options left, Tanya brought her arm up and fired randomly into the room in front of her. Three shots went out before one managed to hit its mark.

Lucretia hissed in pain, and for a brief moment Tanya saw a puck-launcher materialize out of nowhere, its owner losing her grip on it and allowing the weapon to clatter to the ground. Tanya scrambled back up, just in time to see the gun disappear again with a glittery flourish.

How did Lucretia get her hands on Dragaunus' invisibility cloak? That thing should've been _destroyed_, the Saurian had it on him when he blew himself and Wildwing up—

She heard the whirring of the puck-launcher resetting and barely had time to fall to the ground again, out of the line of fire, before a blast sent glass exploding somewhere behind her. She instantly turned on her side, swinging one of her legs out in a swift arch.

Her kick impacted something solid, catching what felt like Lucretia's leg. There was a small gasp, followed by the sound of tumbling across the linoleum. Another shot released and hit the ceiling above them, raining plaster onto the floor in thick hail-sized chunks.

There was no denying this was an unfair fight. Tanya was holding her own and reacting on gut instinct, but even she knew her luck was running out.

As she heard Lucretia fumble across the ground, along with the mechanical sound of the puck-launcher charging up again, Tanya—still lying on her side—aimed upwards with her laser. She shot twice.

The beams of intense energy went high, well above where Lucretia was most likely trying to regain her footing. Fireworks of electricity and buzzing filled the room, the fluorescent lights along the ceiling shattering with sparkling fury.

The laboratory was washed in darkness.

_Now_ the fight was even.

* * *

One level up and down the hallway, Wildwing and the team quickly found the source of the muffled blasts. Racing inside before realizing the extent of what he was seeing, the captain hollered out, "Drop it!" to Fortaineau, the man's pistol waving wildly at the battling duo next to him.

"What the—"

Wildwing heard Nosedive's exclamation before understanding the cause for it. The captain's forearm puck-launcher was aimed at the old scientist, who had raised his own hands up in the air as a show of surrender, _without_ dropping the gun.

As the white drake opened his beak to command the man to disarm himself, his eyes briefly glanced over to Falcone, now in some sort of stranglehold with Viper.

Wildwing's words were suddenly lost, his arm reflexively re-training its weapon on Viper, instead. Nosedive's puck-launcher and Grin's puck-blaster were aimed at the other two perpetrators, respectively, but the entire group of ducks (and human kid) were briefly silenced, staring with looks that fell somewhere between shock and perplexity at the man that had supposedly died.

"Drop your weapons!" Wildwing barked again, pushing away his utter confusion at the scene before him.

Buzz gasped behind Grin, running forward a few steps before the big duck lowered his blaster to grab the kid's shoulder.

"Let go! I need to disconnect the cables to the beryllium!" he cried out, yanking on the gray duck's massive hand holding him in place. "It's overcharging!"

As if on cue, white smoke began to billow out from the crystals' pedestal, a telltale sign that some of those explosions heard downstairs had not just been gunshots. Wildwing swiftly got in front of Buzz, however, away from the wayward aim of any guns, and kept his forearm weapon directed towards Viper.

"_Drop_ _the gun_!" The white drake's repeated order boomed through the tension in the large laboratory.

The barrel of Viper's rifle was aimed towards the ceiling, thanks to Falcone's struggling grip on it, and the Raptrin's saber was pointed awkwardly out, due to the connected arm acting like a vise-grip around the man's neck. Fortaineau stood a few feet away, hands still up in surrender.

Viper laughed.

There was an intense rumbling within the building's hallway, followed by recognizable mechanical cranks and buzzes that Wildwing hadn't heard in over a year. A cold chill ran through the captain as he realized what was happening.

He turned around too late. A dozen _green_ drones—Saurian technology with some obvious customizations from Viper—were already crowded into the room, the business end of their weapons point-blank at the back of Grin and Nosedive's heads. Two of the drones came up and honed their firearms on Wildwing, while another three waltzed over to brandish their arm lasers at Falcone.

Fortaineau lowered his hands, his pistol now pointing at Wildwing.

Viper hadn't stopped laughing.


	12. Unsung Heroes

_The Pond – eight days ago_

The first tingling of reality came from the sensation of warm sheets clutched tightly in her fists. She sucked in a volley of air shortly after, her body stiff despite lying prone on a soft mattress.

She hadn't moved since waking, but risked a glance next to her by turning her head. She let out another, calmer breath when she realized the duck beside her was still fast asleep, his even breaths filling the otherwise silent room.

Taking a few moments to settle her nerves, Mallory quietly sat up, being careful not to jostle the bed too much. With a fluid lift of the covers, she stood and walked to the exit of her quarters, the dim but strategically-placed floor lights enough to guide her way. As soon as she was upright, however, gravity took control, letting pooled sweat drip down the back of her neck, beneath her feathers. She hastily rubbed it away.

The door hissed with the press of a button along the control panel, allowing her to take leave to the equally dark hallway.

Night was still prominent, enough so that the redhead was not worried of running into anyone else. The coolness of the ducks' headquarters kept the alloy beneath her bare feet crisp, making her simple wear of shorts and a tank top feel a little underdressed. She was unwilling to return to the room to change, however, and opted to make herself some hot tea by the time she reached the spacious kitchen.

Keeping her arms crossed over her chest to stay warm, she waited impatiently as her mug of water boiled in the microwave. As much as she hated machines, she'd rather nuke her water any day over sitting and waiting for a teapot to whistle.

There was a dull beep, indicating the heating was complete. She opened the door to retrieve the boiled water, letting the steam hit her face as she added the teabag to steep. With a heavy sigh, she sat down at a nearby nook, choosing a cushioned barstool to sit on rather than the steel dining bench along the sidewall. Settling into her seat, the redhead looked around the empty mess hall, her hands wrapped around the hot ceramic for warmth. Eventually, she closed her eyes and let the aroma drift into her senses.

_"Cadet, orders have been given to evacuate. I suggest you follow them!"_

_Mallory took a step forward. "Commander General—"_

_"NOW!" General McMallard grabbed ahold of the station desk as more explosions erupted and shook the entire airship. He turned his attention back to the monitors and began pressing buttons._

_Mallory had crumpled against a wall and struggled to pull herself back up during the quake. "You need to evacuate, too!"_

_The commander shook his head, still focused on the battle outside. "We've lost all but one engine. Autopilot can't correct this trajectory—it needs to be guided."_

_"DAD!"_

_Mallory suddenly felt a chill run through her. When her father turned to face her again, he was instantly in front of her, shoving her to the controls._

_"Stay, McMallard, and prove yourself."_

_"What?!"_

_Mallory turned back around, looking for him. Their positions had now been switched, with her at the command station and him at the doorway. The world around them seemed to be crumpling faster, smoke and fire nearly suffocating her._

_And yet, the chill that had settled deep within never left, either._

_The commander shook his head sadly at her. "Stay," he said again, "because this is all you'll ever amount to."_

_Then he was gone._

Mallory shuddered in present time, one of her hands coming up to rub between her eyes, as if the action itself would help banish the imagery from her memory. _It's not real._ _Not real, not real, not real—_

"Another one?"

The words sliced through the silence of the room so suddenly that Mallory jolted, her tea sloshing and nearly spilling onto the counter. She looked up as Wildwing entered the kitchen, then covered her startlement with another heavy sigh as she returned her focus to her beverage.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," she murmured.

"Stop apologizing." It was a firm statement, but said with concern nonetheless. He sat down next to her, attired in his own sweat pants and t-shirt. "I'm guessing you still don't want to talk about it?"

She didn't answer him. After a moment of heavy tension between the two, she lifted her cup to take a sip.

The warm fluid did nothing to quell that same chill still inside her, somehow carried over from dream to reality and frustratingly inescapable.

Eventually, she noticed from her peripheral vision that he was watching her, leaning both forearms against the counter.

"All right," he said to her lack of a response.

This time she did look over at him, and felt the tea in her mouth heavier to swallow, thanks to the lump in her throat. He had returned his focus to the counter, but she could plainly see the hurt in his eyes.

"Why now?" he asked suddenly, turning back to her so they finally made eye contact. She frowned at him.

"Why now what?"

"Why are you having these nightmares now? It's been nearly every day for a week."

_Because we're going home soon. I have no idea if I have family left to come home to._

_I went AWOL for this mission, and the only superior to vouch for me disappeared in Dimensional Limbo._

_My father asked me to finish this war, but at what cost? For all we know, we're coming home to an apocalyptic wasteland._

"Just stress, I guess," she vaguely answered, her conscience still yelling at her from the depths of her mind. She turned away again, taking another sip of her tea as a way to distract her anxious hands, more than anything else.

"Mallory."

Her gaze reluctantly travelled back to Wildwing.

He had turned fully to her on his bar chair, only one elbow still resting on the counter. His brown eyes were worriedly studying her.

"You're shaking."

The astuteness of that statement made her eyes widen briefly, and she glanced back at the hand holding the mug. Sure enough, the trembling across her bare arms was keenly noticeable.

"I'm cold," she lied.

She let go of the cup, her arms returning close to her body to hide the tremor that she could not stop. A brief inspection of the mallard sitting next to her made it clear that he didn't buy her lie, not by a longshot.

Thankfully, he chose not to call her on it.

"Come on then," he offered instead, quietly standing up from the stool and holding out his hand, "let's go back to bed."

Wildwing's eyes said so much more than his words. Even now, after a week of refusing to speak to him about the dream, he held out hope that he could convince her to.

He was patient, and kind. She was not.

Mallory took his outstretched hand, allowing him to guide her back to their room. Perhaps she'd find the courage to tell him, tomorrow.

* * *

_Eagle Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park – present day_

"Duke, are you sure that—"

"Mal, I swear ta DuCaine, if you ask me _one_ more time, I'll make sure ta invest in Nosedive's prankin' supplies for da next year, minimum."

Mallory glowered at him, crossing her arms in defiance. "_Look_, L'Orange, a couple hours ago you couldn't move your legs. Excuse me for wondering if you're going to be of any actual help infiltrating this laboratory."

The ex-thief waved her off, unsteadily standing but holding his own weight well enough. "Da rest are in dhere, and I'm not gonna sit on my tailfeathers waitin' for things ta get werse." Taking another couple seconds to think through the actual act of walking, he stumbled towards a side entrance they had scoped out already. "Now come on!"

The redhead shook her head and grumbled something unintelligible, though Duke did pick up the word "stubborn" in the midst of it. He ignored her and pulled out a slim lockpick from his sleeve, traversing to the side door of interest.

They had parked their duckcycle next to the Migrator after locating it, and Duke had learned relatively quickly how to use legs that didn't quite have all their feeling back, yet. His nerves seemed to respond to commands, at least, so he did his best to watch his step and keep pace with Mallory as they made their way to the main entrance of the large building.

Only two guards had been stationed out front, and had been pretty easy to subdue, but further observation of the entryway concluded infrared lasers were on and would most likely sound the alarm, if triggered.

Duke had already located three cameras along the perimeter, which Mallory had neatly knocked off-kilter via shots from her puck-launcher, its level set to stun.

Leaning against the wall and using his slim metal tool, the ex-thief deftly picked the lock on the rather old door. He soundlessly pulled it open and checked inside before entering, Mallory following close behind.

"Not much in the way of guards," she noted.

"Dis looks like some break room, d'ough," Duke commented as well, glancing over the two small tables and refrigerator along the far wall. "Dhere's gotta be more of'em inside."

As if to concur to the gray mallard's statement, the sound of heavy marching—distant, but with enough reverberation to rattle the toaster oven on the nearby counter—filled the room's previous silence.

The duo looked at each other with wide eyes, both instantly recognizing the sound of robotic marching. They bolted to the other side of the room and out into a hallway.

"Downstairs!" Mallory confirmed as she pulled her puck-launcher out of its holster. Taking a second to look at her COM, she added, "That's where their units are!"

"Wait!"

The redhead had started running down the hall, towards the nearest stairwell, when she halted and turned around. "What?!"

Duke, however, had been looking at his COM, as well. "Tanya's COM is lower d'an tha rest of d'em," he stated, looking back up at her.

She looked back down at her communication device, seemingly confirming Duke's statement. He glanced back at his own wrist unit, zeroing in on Tanya's signal to see that it was about five floors below them. It was clearly separated from the rest, on closer inspection ... but why?

None of their teammates had answered their COMs, which had been the first sign of trouble. Duke and Mallory were about an hour behind Wildwing and the rest—maybe less, with the way Mallory drove—but they'd noticed the GPS of the teams' units sitting practically on top of each other for over half an hour, now.

Presently, the ex-thief and commando looked at each other. A silent exchange was made between them, then, and both simultaneously nodded in affirmation.

"Call, as soon as you find her," Mallory demanded.

"And you be careful, if d'ose really are drones," Duke added.

With that, the two teammates split up. Mallory took the nearest stairwell down, while Duke travelled the length of the hallway to the next set of stairs, closer to where Tanya's signal was located.

* * *

Lucretia and Tanya struggled for the upper hand, rolling across the laboratory ground and slamming into tables, cupboards, and equipment.

"You left me to _die_!" Lucretia managed to find Tanya's hair, pulling at it, and Tanya in turn kneed her. The purple-haired duck grunted, the puck-launcher in her hand knocking loose and skidding across the room somewhere.

"And you s-stabbed Duke!"

Making a good calculation, Tanya swung out and managed to deck Lucretia, the latter crying out in pain. The scientist took advantage of the few precious seconds, scrambling up and heading in the direction she had heard the weapon skitter off to. She didn't get far, however, as Lucretia tackled her from behind, sending them both into a table. Tanya went first, and the hit to her chest knocked the breath out of her.

"I should've killed him, after what you did to me!"

They ended back up on the ground, and this time Lucretia had the upper hand. She picked up Tanya by the shoulders and slammed her against the floor, hard.

Seeing stars, Tanya barely felt her cousin push off of her and head the same way she'd been going. Using what little strength she had left, Tanya rolled onto her back and kicked out low.

Her foot made contact with the traitor and, just like before, tripped her up. Tanya heard Lucretia fall into something loud and metal, screaming and cursing along the way. Tanya stumbled to her feet and ran ahead of her, frantically feeling around for the gun.

What neither expected at that moment was a buzzing flicker, followed by the backup lights ran by generator to kick in. They were built into separate circuitry, apparently, a bunch of eerie wall lights blinking on across the length of the room and bathing the laboratory in a dim red glow.

Realization struck too late. With partial visibility, Tanya had lost her advantage.

Turning around, Tanya only briefly saw the puck-launcher a few yards away before it disappeared into Lucretia's invisible field. The scientist barely dove behind another bench as the weapon was fired, a puck set to maximum damage detonating behind her.

The force of the blast shoved Tanya into the table she crouched behind. She coughed as the smoke cleared and felt, rather than saw, the unlucky side of the puck-launcher pressed against her forehead.

She could hear her cousin's labored breathing, intermixed with the sound of crunching glass beneath boots, even though all she could see was the half-destroyed laboratory in front of her. The hot mouth of the weapon still burned into her feathers, however, and was another reminder that Lucretia was right there, despite her eyes telling her the contrary.

"You know, back home, I thought you had died."

Tanya looked up instinctively at the bodiless voice.

"Puckworld was picking up its pieces and you were nothing but another name for the memorial." The invisible duck let out a facetious sigh. "So many lost, and yet here I was, mourning for the cousin that left me to rot." She breathily laughed. "Who knew you were actually a part of the revered Strike Force?"

Tanya, unable to move with the gun pressed against her, glared in the direction she assumed Lucretia to be standing. "You t-took out half our l-leaders in Metropolis, and n-nearly wiped out the Res-resistance in the first place. W-hy would you care if I was d-dead?"

There was a big hum. "Well, T-belle, you _were_ the only family that really mattered to me. But, everyone else turned their backs on me, so I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that you did, too."

"Y-your insane."

"Am I? Perhaps. But I have the Council to thank for that. Ever been brainwashed before? Or injected with hallucinogens on the pretense of curing you?"

The puck-launcher whirred as she reset it. "Didn't think so," she answered for Tanya. "And we won't get into being stuck in a timeless loop of nightmares and memories that never happened. Tends to leave you a little … distrusting, I suppose."

The puck-launcher pushed hard into Tanya's forehead, making the blonde duck flinch.

"It's been fun, T-belle."

Despite the situation, Tanya smiled back at the empty space. "S-so it has."

The trashed room left equipment of all sorts scattered across the floor, and Tanya had happened across one as she dove away from the explosive puck earlier.

And, seeing as though she customized most of the weapons in the ducks' possession, she was well-aware of how many rounds each of their weapons had.

For your everyday standard-issue puck-launcher, that lucky number was five.

As Lucretia pulled the trigger and heard the inevitable click of a weapon needing reloading, Tanya pushed up and used her tool—a Erlenmeyer flask—as a melee weapon. Her first hit was solid across Lucretia's head, causing her to drop the gun.

Tanya kicked out immediately afterwards, sending Lucretia flying backwards into a table, dropping the invisible cloak's controller in the process. The form of the purple-haired duck materialized back into existence, and she quickly got into a defensive position. But Tanya's anger had taken to a new level: she fired her laser, hitting Lucretia in the shoulder and stomach, followed by a swift uppercut with her other hand.

The knife that Lucretia had tried to brandish clattered to the floor, its owner falling to her knees, winded from the blows. Tanya knew her too well to stop there, however, and used a foot to step on her back, sending Lucretia to her stomach with a strangled yell.

The scientist pulled out cuffs and fastened them to the traitor's wrists, behind her back. She checked Lucretia's pockets and boots, pulling out another three knives in her possession.

Then, with a solid yank, Tanya pulled Lucretia back to her feet, turning her around to aim her laser weapon at her cousin's face.

"Don't move a m-muscle," the blonde duck growled out.

Lucretia, breathing heavily, smirked at her. "All right, darling, you win this round."

Gritting her teeth, Tanya pushed Lucretia into a seated position on a nearby stool, before uncoiling some spare wire from her Omnitool. She wrapped it around Lucretia's legs and the legs of the chair, then welded the ends together with her laser.

"Efficient, as always," Lucretia commented, her voice hoarse despite her attempts to mask it. A glance back at her showed a trail of blood running down the side of her face, from Tanya's earlier hit.

"Where is it?" Tanya asked, her own voice strained from the waning adrenaline and subsequent injuries making their way known.

"Where's what, T-belle?" she asked innocently.

The blonde duck saw that Lucretia's black jacket was partially zipped in the front, and ignored her to check the inside pockets. She found yet another dagger nestled along the lining, before pulling out the T-shaped metal contraption of interest. Turning it over carefully, Tanya let out a shaky breath of relief as she confirmed the transporter was not damaged.

"Always a one-tracked mind with you, cuz," Lucretia said, her eyes glazing over slightly. Tanya watched her momentarily, her eyes narrowing. She hesitated for a second, then typed a few commands on her Omnitool. The laser weapon disappeared with a mechanical whir, followed by a blinking blue light. Tanya paused as she watched the monitor, sweeping the light across Lucretia's face.

The cuffed duck squinted from the bright beam in her face, her brow furrowing even more. "What are you doing?" she finally asked.

Tanya ignored her, typing more commands into the tool attached to her wrist. "You have a con-concussion, but no stitches required."

A sarcastic laugh erupted from Lucretia. "You're checking me for injuries?" she asked incredulously. "The ones _you_ gave me?"

"Not l-like you gave me a choice," Tanya answered coolly, shutting the machine off. She stepped away from the purple-haired duck, then, and used an arm to sweep the dust and debris off the table next to them.

Tanya grabbed another stool nearby and sat down, opening the transporter's casing up with Lucretia silently watching on.

Before she could ask, however, Tanya mumbled, "Whether y-you like it or not, Lucy, I w-want _all_ of us to go h-home."

"Sure you do, sweetheart. Just to lock me and Falcone right up when we get there, hmm?"

"You made your ch-choices."

"That I did, T-belle," Lucretia answered dryly, "and I don't regret _any_ of it."

"Not e-everyone's out to get you," Tanya argued reasonably, her focus now on the transporter as she hurriedly worked. "And, for what it's w-worth, I'm sorry."

"Ha, sure honey, whatever you say."

"I am," Tanya insisted, pausing and looking up at her. "And I d-do regret not g-getting you out of that rehab place s-sooner." The blonde duck quickly returned to her work, connecting the transporter to her Omnitool with some wiring and typing away.

Lucretia was quiet at that, studying both the duck in front of her, as well as what she was doing.

The bloodred backup lights flickered.


	13. Down the Rabbit Hole

Mallory pressed herself against the closest wall, peering through the open door and only seeing a part of Grin's bulky form kneeling on the floor. Behind him, a green drone stood motionless, weapon trained on the big duck's head. She couldn't see his face, but based on his position and the relative silence in the room, she figured the rest were in similar positions next to the pacifist.

She hesitated. If she went in with guns blazing, it wouldn't be just herself facing injury. She needed to draw them out, or distract them, somehow.

"I suggest you _hurry_, boy," an eerily familiar voice rang out from within the laboratory.

"You want to try and charge down volatile beryllium?" Buzz's sarcastic reply snapped back. "You don't just _disconnect_ a transporter and expect that kind of energy to dissipate!"

Mallory's frown deepened. Who was Buzz arguing with? She knew that voice, but it couldn't possibly be—

"Is it _stable_?" that same voice demanded.

"Well, if it wasn't, we'd be nothing but ash by now, along with the better part of Southern California, so what do you think?"

"Do _not_ mouth me, child!"

There was a painful gasp at that—Buzz's painful gasp—and Mallory saw nothing but red.

Her body jolted, itching to jump out and attack, but she forcefully held back, taking a few deep breaths to calm her instincts. _Focus_, she instructed herself.

If the transporter was disconnected, as Buzz had mentioned, then that meant that Tanya probably had it, unless Lucretia or Falcone had double-crossed Fortaineau. She didn't have a lot to go on from this vantage point, but she sure as hell wasn't going to wait around long, either.

She took a shaky breath and pressed a small button on her puck-launcher. A red laser light shined from below the mouth of the weapon, and she carefully aimed the laser guide toward Grin's arm.

Long moments passed where nothing happened, and Mallory's impatience made her wiggle the laser light ever-so-gently, enough to cause a small amount of movement on the pacifist's forearm.

"There has to be evil, so good can prove its purity above it."

Grin's voice boomed the random quote in the otherwise quiet room, and he received a mountain more of silence in return for it.

"I _bow_ to this goodness."

The big duck did as he said, and with such a prominent enunciation on the word that Mallory had her cue. She turned into the open doorway and fired on the drones, who no longer had their weapons aimed at her teammates' heads, thanks to some well-timed faux worshiping.

The redhead didn't have a lot of time to work out the logistics of the scene, but after taking out the four drones holding her team (and Falcone) hostage, she turned on Fortaineau and a back-from-the-dead Viper. Her mind tried to process that, as well as the more important question of where Buzz had gone, as she swiftly reloaded her gun. She shot at the two men, saw their weapons coming towards her, saw another two drones on the other side of the room aim at her, and—before she could react—saw the green machines explode where they stood.

Buzz appeared from around the corner of the control station, crouched and holding one of Nosedive's puck-launchers. Mallory dived to the side as Viper fired some sort of super-powered rifle at her, a small explosion of drywall erupting where she'd just been. She fired back as she rolled, forcing him to hide behind the terminal once more.

Her team's hands were figuratively and literally tied with what looked like electronic cuffs, but Nosedive was already working to turn on Wildwing's buzz-saw from his forearm armor, most likely to slice the restraints apart.

Grin opted to attack without free arms, barreling himself into another two drones that had been stationed next to the control desk. Mallory quickly covered him with gunfire, but kept a keen lookout where Viper and Fortaineau were hiding.

Buzz ran up to her out of the corner of her eye, also shooting in that general direction.

"Your aim's improved," she told him.

"I have a good teacher," he quipped back.

The sound of screeching metal was heard, and a quick glance over showed Nosedive slicing his cuffs down the center links, sparks flying in every direction. Wildwing held still with his own arms still locked, but with the buzz-saw on his forearm armor out and running. As soon as he was free, the teenage duck quickly went to work trying to undo his older brother's chains.

More shots came from the far end of the room, and Mallory saw Viper hunched over the control station, Fortaineau hovering near him and shooting at both Grin and Falcone, who were hiding behind laboratory worktables. Mallory shot at the older man, watching him duck once more, before she heard a loud jolt of machinery starting up.

"What is he doing?!" Buzz cried out incredulously. Mallory saw him looking over at Viper, who was hovering at the computers and looking back at the glowing pedestal of beryllium crystals.

Fortaineau, clumsily handling the rifle Viper had been shooting at Mallory, turned back and shot at them. The redhead darted towards the nearest row of benches, dragging Buzz with her. The older man's aim was both poor and frantic, making it far more dangerous.

"He's starting the machine back up without the transporter!" Buzz cried.

"What does that even mean?" Mallory asked, her back against the heavy table.

Buzz tried to peer over the top of the desk, but the redhead yanked him back down to safety. "Without the transporter, the beryllium's energy isn't regulated. It doesn't know where to direct the wormhole!"

Shots hit the other side of the lower cabinets, a few sections splintering the wood on their end. Mallory pulled the puck bazooka off her back.

"Are you crazy?!" Buzz hissed, seeing what she was doing.

"Well, aren't they about to blow this place up anyways?!" she shot back.

"No—or, at least I don't think so," he replied, his brow furrowing as he thought. "When I was trying to power down the machine earlier, I noticed another external device attached…" he paused, eyes widening. "I bet they tried to duplicate the transporter data and are trying to use its coordinates!"

The wind was beginning to pick up inside, making it even harder to hear what was going on. Fortaineau seemed absolutely maniacal with his continual firing.

"All right, squirt, layduck's terms. We don't have a lot of options here."

"He's trying to use the information to open another gateway, but I don't think it's stable enough to control the beryllium's core."

Mallory growled in frustration. "Are we going to blow up or not?!"

"Uh," Buzz cringed, "like, 67% maybe?"

Sudden mechanical whirring alerted the commando of commotion behind her. Two more drones entered the laboratory, with a clear line of sight towards Nosedive and Wildwing, who were currently hiding behind another large bench and still fighting to undo Wildwing's cuffs.

There wasn't enough time to warn them.

* * *

"There!"

Tanya successfully closed up the transporter, Lucretia watching on with an arched brow.

"Now what?"

The blonde duck stood up, the red T-shaped device in hand. "Now we, uh, go back."

"You are such a glutton for punishment," she sardonically replied.

As Tanya bent down to cut the wiring she had wrapped around Lucretia's legs, the traitor suddenly brought her now-free hands forward, backhanding the scientist to the floor.

She hopped up, the cuffs falling off and a lockpick in her hand, before stooping down to grab the transporter while Tanya was still trying to regain her bearings.

"Word of advice, hun," Lucretia called out, running towards the exit, "don't forget to check the sleeves of a jacket!"

Before she could reach the doorway, however, two green drones blew it open with laser fire. Lucretia yelped, falling backwards and diving sideways to avoid the shrapnel that flew.

With a newly-enlarged doorway, the green drones entered and pointed their weapons at Lucretia. "SURRENDER," a robotic voice echoed from its speaker.

"Eh, I'm thinkin' not!"

The sound of metal shearing filled the air, a yellow glow fighting the backup light's red atmosphere. Tanya stood back up, holding the table for support, and smiled as Duke used his saber to tear apart the two machines.

When he finished, his sword instantly pointed at Lucretia. The purple-haired duck let out a sigh, standing straighter as Duke's business-end of his blade hovered inches from her face.

"Fancy meetin' you 'ere," he said to her. "Mind if I 'ave d'at?"

She rolled her eyes at him, but tossed the transporter into his waiting free hand. He pocketed it, but brought his palm out again.

"Don't 'old out on me, now," he cheekily added. His hand open and closed for emphasis.

With a frown, she pulled out the knife in her sleeve, as well as the lockpick she'd used earlier to free herself from Tanya's restraints. Deftly flipping the knife so its handle faced outwards, she handed over both weapons to the ex-thief, as well.

Duke took out his own cuffs, then, and placed them on Lucretia's wrists in front of her. She let out another perturbed breath while he did so. "You two really aren't much fun," she sulkily complained.

Pulling up Lucretia's sleeve, he took off Tanya's COM unit, wiggling it in front of her face. "I dunno, I'm 'avin' a lot o' fun right now."

Turning to the blonde duck, Duke barely had time to get out, "Angel, are you—" before Tanya had bounded up to him, hugging him fiercely.

"You're okay!" She paused, pulling back and checking his shoulder. "Wh-what are you doing here?!"

He was stunned silent for a moment, but quickly covered it up with a smirk. "Well, obviously ta get d'at kind o' reception, o' course."

Lucretia groaned dramatically. "Oh please."

They ignored her, Duke instead snapping Tanya's communication unit back on her wrist.

"Y-you sure you're okay?" she asked again, watching him.

"I'm fine, Angel. Are you?" he asked more seriously, one of his hands coming up to a rather sizeable bruise forming underneath the feathers on her forehead.

"I'm okay. W-we gotta get back to Viper."

Duke nodded. "Mal went to help the others." He paused. "Wait, Viper?"

The scientist's eyes widened at his first statement and she ignored his question. "W-wait, the others? They're, uh, here?"

"D'ey left before us, to come after you."

He frowned, his beak open and ready to add to that, but Tanya grabbed the transporter out of Duke's waist satchel, hurrying towards the exit. "C-come on, we have to help them!"

* * *

The drones' arms were already up and aiming at her teammates.

Mallory jumped up and threw her small frame into the two robots, knocking them into each other and throwing off their trajectory. She pushed herself away and fired her puck bazooka close-range, using her other arm to shield her face as the puck hit and knocked both machines into the wall behind them, shattering it and the doorframe in the process.

Her breathing was ragged with pain, her halfway-healed gunshot wound throbbing. She was on her back and slowly tried to roll herself over into a crawl, her hearing ringing from the blast going off in such an enclosed space.

"MAL!"

She didn't even have time to register who, much less why, before she was knocked off her partial crouch and rolled behind the same laboratory bench she'd been hiding behind with Buzz.

The redhead groaned and coughed, half-slouched against the cabinets in a sitting position, and the ache in her side even more angry. She noticed a heavy form laying in her lap and looked down, seeing Nosedive with a pained expression on his face.

Oh no.

"Dive!" she hoarsely stated, Buzz crawling up next to them. Her eyes traveled to his arm, covered in blood.

"You idiot," she declared.

"Dive!" Wildwing called from across the room, looking panicked at the two but unable to cross the temporary warzone between them.

"I'm fine!" he called out, gritting his teeth in the process.

"Like hell you are," Mallory spat. Buzz helped support the teenager's back and propped him into his own sitting position. As she studied the injury, it looked like a laser wound had sliced deep into his bicep.

"Hey, you've already been shot," Nosedive argued breathlessly, "and Duke's been stabbed. I'm not letting you two hog all the glory in this episode."

"Unbelievable," the redhead muttered. She ripped Nosedive's sleeve on his good arm, earning an indignant "Hey!" from him, but ignored it as she shredded it lengthwise to wrap around his injury like a tourniquet.

Amidst more gunfire, along with what was starting to feel like a small hurricane, Wildwing ran and skidded to their side, his hands still cuffed. "Are you guys all right?" he concernedly asked them, watching as Mallory wrapped the cloth around his brother's upper arm.

"Peachy keen, bro," Nosedive groaned out, holding out a thumb's up with the hand on his undamaged arm, despite the grimace etched on his features.

"Here," Buzz interrupted, coming up to Wildwing and fiddling with the small electronic panel on his cuffs. In a matter of seconds, they opened at the wrists and fell off.

"Show-off," the teenager mumbled.

"They've opened a portal," Wildwing said, quickly glancing around the corner towards Fortaineau and Viper. "And he won't stop shooting!"

"It's unstable," Buzz added, scrubbing some sweat from his brow with his sleeve. "It won't hold much longer before collapsing."

"And then what?"

"Unless the power is discharged, a collapsed wormhole will expel enough energy to wipe out a good chunk of this state."

"Tubular."

"Can we shut it down?" Mallory asked, reloading her puck-launcher since a puck bazooka seemed to be out of the question.

"At this point I'm not sure."

"Let's hop to it and try then!" Nosedive got onto his knees, readying himself to stand, before his older brother firmly shoved him back against the laboratory worktable.

"Nuh-uh, you stay put."

"Aw, bro, come on!"

"I'll distract them," Wildwing interrupted, looking at Mallory. "You get Buzz to that control station."

She shook her head at him. "You can't be serious, Wing. That kind of firepower will deplete your force shield in seconds!"

"We don't have a choice, here."

"Like 'ell we don't!"

Duke appeared through the broken doorway of the laboratory, using his saber to deflect the laser fire from Fortaineau's weapon. Tanya and Lucretia were behind him, the former dragging the latter by the chain connecting her wrists together.

"Here!"

Tanya shoved Lucretia down with the rest of the group, before keeping low and navigating to the other side of the benches.

"Buzz, go with her, I'll cover you!" Mallory called, standing up and firing back.

The kid nodded, scrambling up to follow the scientist to the far side of the room.

Falcone and Grin, closer to the men and hiding behind their own laboratory bench, stood up with Duke's distraction.

With the group closing in, Viper quickly pulled back from the terminal, towards the opening portal. Unlike last time, this one was lopsided, and seemed to be expanding and contracting rhythmically. The power could not control its formation.

"We must go!" Viper called.

Fortaineau, still firing the laser rifle, backed up towards the volatile gateway, only hints of a dilapidated Anaheim showing through its opening.

They bent low behind the station to avoid Mallory's firing, but with Duke, Grin, and Wildwing closing in quickly.

Tanya reached the controls from the other side and plugged in the transporter.

There was a huge reflux of energy from the crystals, sending a shockwave through the vicinity that sent everyone to their knees. The gateway wobbled unsteadily, a rainbow of energy waves traversing outwards, shoving both Viper and Fortaineau closer to its epicenter.

"What are you doing?!" Buzz called out, right behind Tanya.

"Sending him, uh, back home!" she yelled back, the wind stronger now that the portal had stabilized.

"NO!" Viper screeched, seeing the formation of his office materialize back through the hole. "I WILL NOT GO BACK!"

He wrenched the rifle out of Fortaineau's hand, the older man holding on desperately to the edge of the command station to avert the pull of the gateway. He turned on Tanya and Buzz, and the blonde duck shoved the boy down just as the rifle fired.

Grin slammed into Viper, his firing hitting the computer and sending sparks flying before veering towards the ceiling. There was a high-pitched hum as the size of the portal shrunk, then a brief blast of air outwards as it expanded to three times its size.

With his arms still tied behind his back, the big duck headbutted Viper on the floor, knocking the man out. The vortex next to them was regaining its strength, however, and no longer showed another world on the other side.

Buzz pulled away from Tanya's hold, running up to the station despite the increasing gusts dragging everything in its way through.

"The connection is fried!" he exclaimed, both Grin and Tanya coming up behind him to protect him. "I need to rewire the transporter to the generator, or the surge is just going to exponentially grow!"

"There's no t-time!" Tanya argued, reaching down to override Grin's electronic cuffs. In seconds they opened, falling to the floor with a clatter before being sucked into the void. With his arms now free, Grin grasped onto each side of the large table, protecting Buzz from the wind.

"Hurry, little friend," he said with gritted teeth.

On the other side of the room, Fortaineau had been tied up by Wildwing and Duke. Falcone, arms still cuffed behind his back, kept himself behind a laboratory bench, away from the swelling gales of the portal. The ex-thief staggered over to him, sword out.

"Good to see you back on your feet, ol' chap," Falcone offered anxiously, the attempt of smirk on his hooked-beak.

Duke glared at him. "You 'ave a lotta nerve," he growled out, his blade pressing against the Raptrin's neck.

"Duke!"

The gray mallard turned around, seeing Wildwing struggling to hold down Fortaineau. The older man's entire body was nearly horizontal in the air, being closest to the portal, with the captain stretched over the workbench to try and keep a grip on the scientist's cuffed wrists.

Letting out a low curse, Duke turned and ran back over to the two to help.

"Mal!"

Mallory, standing next to Nosedive and watching over both him and the scene before them, glanced down. The teenager was looking over to Lucretia, who was backing up towards the exit. When the commando made eye contact with her, she turned to bolt.

"Oh no you don't!" Mallory quickly adjusted the settings on her puck-launcher and fired a bola puck. It caught the traitor's legs in a bind, tripping her to the floor with a grunt.

In the center of the laboratory, however—and without the cover of a worktable—the purple-haired duck was now in the core of the storm's path. With a strangled cry, she began sliding towards the vortex. Mallory dived to the floor, grabbing Lucretia's chained hands before she slid past them. Nosedive used his bodyweight against the redhead's legs to hold her steady, bracing them both against the bench they had been crouched behind.

Lightning slashed around the vortex's perimeter as it pulsated and grew.


	14. Occam's Razor

Wildwing felt his arms painfully stretch against the pull. His lower half was solidly wedged against the table, and was his only saving grace at staying upright as he gripped Fortaineau's cuffs. The man himself was completely airborne and screaming, though the captain could barely hear it over the sheer _force_ of the portal that alarmingly appeared to be expanding.

Even more worryingly, the colors that Wildwing could see inside the vortex were eerily reminiscent of another time and place. The white drake quenched his eyes shut briefly, the ducks' limited experience of Dimensional Limbo rushing to the forefront of his mind. The echo of his own cry for his best friend … watching him disappear in a flash of light, his hands still reaching out…

_"CANARD!"_

Wildwing's breath hitched as the memories bombarded him.

"'ere!"

Duke came up from behind the leader, snapping him out of his flashback. The ex-thief had a rope from his grappling hook in hand, and swiftly wrapped it around Fortaineau's restraints, knotting it. He yanked the rest of the line taut, then started dragging it towards the far side of the room, most likely trying to find somewhere to anchor it. The white drake kept his grip steady, but with Duke's help, the strain of holding the scientist was lessened.

As he glanced back to check on the gray mallard, Wildwing saw Falcone running towards the exit.

He didn't have a chance to say anything, however, because another scream filled his senses. Behind him, Lucretia was in a similar position as Fortaineau, with Mallory barely hanging onto her. The draw of the winds was too much, and the captain saw both of them come tumbling forwards.

* * *

Duke had managed to wrap the rope around another lab bench, keeping his feet planted on its far side, out of the portal's tornado-like vacuum. As he fastened the cable, he saw Mallory struggling to hold onto a tangled Lucretia, with Nosedive trying to secure them both with one arm.

The redhead was steadily losing grip.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Falcone bolt, but didn't have time to worry about it. Cowards will be—

"Duke!"

The ex-thief grunted surprisingly, seeing his ex-partner at his side. Falcone's panicked expression said everything, however, and—for the first time in a long time—Duke felt like he finally understood the Raptrin.

Time seemed to pause as an unspoken deal was made between the two Brotherhood members.

"We're even," Duke confirmed, pulling a tool out of his sleeve.

"No, old friend," Falcone shook his head, "I'll owe you."

* * *

"MAL!" Nosedive hollered, having faceplanted from trying and failing to keep her in place. He shuffled backwards with his one good arm before he ended up getting sucked up into the whirlwind, as well.

Wildwing let go of Fortaineau, trusting the rope to hold, and instead turned himself around so his back pressed against the worktable. He had to bend low to prevent the pull from taking him right over the counter and into the void.

Lucretia was first, the air picking her up off the floor and sending her flying backwards with an ear-piercing shriek. Mallory was directly behind her, skidding along the ground and trying to grasp the edge of another lab bench as she shot by. The leader's sights were on the redhead, knowing full-well he would be unable to save them both.

From out of nowhere, Falcone jumped across the scene, tackling Lucretia out of the air, his hands free of the cuffs. They dropped behind another row of benches, out of sight, before the wind increased and Mallory went airborne.

Wildwing widened his stance, arms out.

_Not again_.

Just as she passed overhead, he reached up, grabbing her arm. She grabbed his forearm with her other hand, her legs flying right over her and forcing Wildwing to turn around. The drag was strong, but the white drake planted a foot on the cabinetry for leverage. With a solid shove and an equally loud growl, the leader kicked himself towards the floor, dragging Mallory with him.

Out of the direct path, the captain was able to clamber back up against the control station, towing the redhead with him.

"Thanks," she got out, her teeth clenched in pain, "again."

"You okay?" he asked, keeping her close as the table behind them started shaking.

She nodded for her answer, but her breath was shaky from the close-call. "Where's Buzz?" she asked, looking around.

"At the controls, with Tanya and Grin," Wildwing answered, bending over enough to try and look over the console.

"They can't—it's too strong!" she argued, grappling to get out of the leader's embrace.

"He's our only hope at ending this," he debated right back, not letting her go. "We have to let him try, or else—"

Another explosion interrupted them, and Wildwing shoved Mallory to the floor as heavy machinery flew over their heads, taking a chunk of the countertop above them with it.

* * *

Grin was a strong duck, but even he couldn't hold his own against the growing portal behind them. They were to the side of it, away from the strength of the gales, but he was losing his grip on the control station.

Buzz was frantic with his wiring, Tanya supplying the materials for him as he called it out. She had used excess wiring to wrap around herself and secured it around Grin's waist, since she had to move around to retrieve what the preteen needed.

They had managed to reconnect the transporter to the gateway relatively quickly, but the system had been destabilized for too long, and the influx of power was continuing to increase.

With nowhere to go, that energy was about to become an exothermic reaction, and a gigantic one at that.

A huge crash disrupted Buzz's typing, and all three of them looked up to see laboratory equipment crash _through_ a workbench, taking some of the epoxy countertop and wooden base with it. Wood splintered, glass exploded, and what was once a protective barrier from the wind became nothing but a funnel to enhance its sheer force.

The first to go was the one behind Wildwing and Mallory. They had thankfully crawled behind a second table before the force picked up, but only barely, skirting around its corner just as another piece of machinery flew by.

Tanya, grabbing onto Grin's massive forearm for leverage, turned around to see a broken rope dangling near the mouth of the portal. She swallowed hard, realizing Fortaineau had not been so lucky.

Glancing farther back, nearer to the pedestals, she saw an empty spot where Viper used to be. Blanching, she searched the immediate area, her arm with the Omnitool instinctively pointing outwards in defense.

Another crash erupted—far closer this time—and Grin stumbled straight into Tanya, sending both ducks toppling to the floor, behind the generator.

"Hey! Leggo!"

Viper was awake and angry. He had whacked Grin with a stool, it looked like, and tossed the broken furniture to the floor to grab Buzz's collar instead. With a solid shove, he pushed the kid towards the portal, instantly taking his spot at the control station and typing away on the system.

Grin, still partially recovering from the hit, rolled over enough to grab the boy before he went straight into the gateway's path. Tanya, still connected to Grin via her wiring, struggled to join them, the pull of the winds strong enough to feel like she was trying to walk through a cyclone.

Together, they made their way over to the generator. A glance back at the vortex showed a dim, red atmosphere, blinking in and out hazardously.

"He's trying to go to the future!" Buzz yelled over the strength of the airstream. "We have to stop him!"

Grin went to stand, but Tanya shoved him back down. "Let him!" she hollered.

Both Grin and Buzz looked at her like she was crazy, but she didn't bother trying to explain.

Successfully opening a portal—albeit wobbly, at best—Viper wasted no time in running towards its intense epicenter.

Instinctively, Grin reached out to try and grab him, but once again Tanya stopped him. The man was easily sucked into and across to the other side, though the image of the world beyond blinked in and out of existence so rapidly it was a wonder whether he actually made it through.

"Come on!" Tanya hollered, trying to stand again. "We need to shut it, uh, down!"

"What about Viper?!" Buzz demanded. "We can't—!"

"He went home!" Tanya insisted, nudging Grin up since she was still connected to him. The big duck kept a firm grip on Buzz, as well, and the trio slowly made their way back to the control station.

"You changed the coordinates?!" Buzz shouted to be heard, watching as Tanya continued where he had left off.

"I erased e-everything off the transporter, except where he came from," Tanya explained. "No matter what he picked, it would take him home."

"What about _your_ home?!" Buzz asked incredulously.

"I'm hoping they got that one copied," she answered, glancing warily at the device Viper and Fortaineau had been using to duplicate the transporter's data.

It was a risky move, yes, but what choice did she have?

Buzz darted out of Grin's hands, causing both him and Tanya to yell out in surprise. The boy was at the external device's computer terminal typing away, paying no mind to the absolute chaos directly to the side of him.

"Grin!" Tanya screamed, and the big duck quickly made his way over to Buzz to pull him back.

Meanwhile, the blonde scientist frantically tried to shut down the existing connection. Beryllium, even in its final stage of crystallization, was extremely volatile with its energy, and—unfortunately—a portal asked for a huge influx of power concentrated on what was essentially light years away.

When that connection was lost, the resulting charge was left with nowhere to release. Tanya scrambled to find a connection elsewhere, to at least dissipate the existing ramp-up, but much like trying to find the winning lottery numbers, randomizing numbers to find a gateway connection was a needle in a haystack.

Reconnecting the transporter was supposed to have given it a destination again, which may have worked for Viper, but the influx had now surpassed even the energy required for that connection.

In other words, the exponential growth had exceeded a reverse phase, which meant an explosion was inevitable.

The weight of that conclusion hung heavily in Tanya's mind. That kind of destruction wouldn't just wipe them out, but a better part of the state, with it. How many lives would be lost?

A shrill cry interrupted her thoughts, and Tanya looked up to see her cousin fly into the portal.

"NO! LUCY!" Tanya screamed.

* * *

_Moments earlier…_

"Wow, hero of the day," Lucretia stated, her voice ragged from the last-minute save.

She and Falcone were pressed behind a laboratory bench, narrowly out of the path of vortex. Falcone gave her a rather charming smile, despite the circumstances.

"Just the day, hmm?" he asked with a wink. She didn't reply as he helped her undo the bola rope knotted around her legs.

"So much for plan A," she finally commented with a sigh. "Any other ideas on getting the hell off this planet?"

Falcone tried to glance at the terminal, without much success. "Not unless you know how to salvage one hell of a blunder," he commented. "I—wait," he paused, frowning, "Viper is at the control station."

"He is?" Lucretia quickly turned around, peering over the edge.

It looked like the man had done something to the portal and, instead of the psychedelic swirls of Limbo, a dim red world blinked in and out of existence. There was no sign of the child or the ducks.

"He's escaping," she agreed. "Should we follow?"

Falcone gave her a double-take. "Are you _barmy_?! He's going to an apocalyptic future!"

"Earth's apocalyptic future," Lucretia argued. "And I really don't want to go back home if it's behind bars, Ernie."

They gave each other a long, hard stare. Falcone swallowed heavily, shaking his head. "I _can't_, Lucretia. Our home is thriving." His hand reached for hers, grasping it. "Stay with me, love, and I _promise_ you we will stay free."

There was an explosion, then, and instinctively the two threw themselves to the floor. Quickly determining the sound had not affected them directly, Falcone carefully checked around the corner, just in time to see Wildwing and Mallory crawl to the bench across the room, parallel to Falcone and Lucretia's hiding spot.

It was at that moment that a large piece of equipment flew over the thief, ramming into the bench in a burst of wood, metal, and resin. A chunk of _something_ slammed into Falcone's head, bright stars drowning his vision momentarily. He felt the ground against his beak suddenly, and belatedly realized he had been knocked to the floor from the hit.

A familiar scream erupted, but the Raptrin was unable to pick himself back up to his knees. The world was spinning … his head was throbbing in pain … and something was shoving him against the workbench, or whatever remained of it.

The pull grew, and before he could register why, Falcone was airborne. He saw the laboratory below him growing distant, before a solid yank in the other direction stopped his movements.

Like someone pressing the play button on a remote, the world seemed to snap back into focus. He was still in the air, the portal behind him and beckoning, but some kind of cable had wrapped around his waist, extending outwards. It was taut, and he felt like a kite in a thunderstorm, his body whipping back and forth from the constant strain, his cape fluttering just outside of the vortex's swirling mouth.

Duke was on the other end of that rope, struggling to support Falcone against the bench he and Lucretia had been hiding behind. A gaping hole had bifurcated the table, leaving the gray mallard pressed against the small remaining section still standing.

_Lucretia._

His head snapped around, as best he could with how he was anchored, anyway, and he frantically searched the room. She was gone. Falcone's heart sank as he looked through the portal. The dim world Viper had summoned was no longer there, and only a continual swirl of purple moved from within, an odd, undulating mass of color that looked out of place from the destruction of the bleak room around it.

_She was gone_.

"Now you've started a tab on your IOU!" Duke joked, albeit with a huff in his voice, fighting to hold tight to the line that was keeping Falcone from the same fate.

Time seemed to slow down again as the Raptrin took in his surroundings. The boy was with Tanya and the large duck—what was his name again?—over by the controls, arguing with one another as the gray behemoth lugged the child away from the station. The team captain and the redhead were still behind an undamaged bench, as well as the annoying teenager farther back.

Viper was gone, along with Fortaineau. They had gotten what they wanted, after all.

Was Lucretia with them? Did she make it to the other side? …Or had she returned to Dimensional Limbo, to live an unknowing number of years in a dreamlike state, as before?

It didn't matter. She was gone.

The Raptrin returned his attention to below, and saw Duke staring at him with wide eyes.

He had been watching as Falcone brandished a small knife from his sleeve, flipping it open with a flick of his wrist.

"Wish me luck, old friend," he called out.

Falcone sliced the rope and flew into the gateway.

* * *

"We can't stop it!"

"Yes we can! Just let me input new coordinates!"

"Buzz—!"

The boy in question had been wrenched from the other terminal by Grin, only to come darting back to the main control station. Tanya gave Grin a pointed look, motioning towards the exit.

The pacifist nodded, following the child and stepping away from the pulsating gateway.

"We have to get out of here," Tanya yelled, opening her COM. "Wing, can you, uh, hear me?!"

"Our units were removed upon capture," Grin explained. "They are gone."

"We have to get to the Aerowing, _now_!" the scientist hurriedly explained. "It's too u-unstable!"

Buzz was still furiously typing, ignoring them both. "I think—I think I can get it focused far enough away, to redirect the energy, I just need to—"

"Buzz!" Tanya interrupted, grasping his shoulders. "It's over. We can't stabilize this kind of energy, the crystals are o-overcharged!"

He shoved her off. "I can focus it again, like Viper did but farther away, to help expel that energy."

Grin stood nearby, listening intently. "The crystals?" he asked.

"Yes!" both duck and boy said simultaneously.

"We don't have time—"

"If we let it blow, it's going to kill a lot of innocent people—"

"We can't stop it—"

"What kind of heroes does that make us?!"

Tanya suddenly felt a snap and a jolt. She looked down to see the wire around her waist dangling next to her leg, before looking back over her shoulder.

The pacifist was next to the pedestal of beryllium crystals, at its base, readying himself to lift it.

"GRIN!"

With a painful holler, the big duck bent down and picked up the sparking gems, the energy flowing over him like a conductor. He took laboriously slow steps towards the front of the vortex, Tanya and Buzz watching on with wide eyes.

Then, with one last bellow from the big duck, he twisted and threw the crystals into the path of the portal, sending it into the very dimensional rift it had created.

Lightning grew from within the space beyond, even as Grin collapsed to the floor. Tanya started to bolt over to him, to stop the inevitable, watching with dismay as his unconscious form drifted towards the opening.

And then the gateway completely collapsed on itself, an explosion echoing inside it and expelling out one last thunderous shockwave before disappearing with a teeth-jarring _blip_.

Deathly silence reigned once again.


	15. From the Ashes

Papers rustled along the floor, remnants of the last few bursts of wind circling within the destroyed laboratory.

Heavy breathing eventually filtered in, from all sides of the room, as those present slowly began to stand from their hiding spots.

Tanya, having been blown back from the shockwave of the portal collapsing, crawled back over to Grin, who still lay unmoving along the ground. A smoking generator—or what remained of it, anyway—was a little too close for comfort, random bits of sparks erupting between its damaged crevices.

The blonde duck reached the pacifist, quickly feeling around his neck for a pulse, her eyes brimming with tears and her hands trembling. Tense seconds ticked by, Buzz coming up and standing next to her, his arms crossed rigidly in front of him.

Finally, she released a deep breath.

"He's okay, I t-think," she announced. "We need to get him o-on the Medi-icom, though."

"Buzz?"

The boy whipped his head around and let out a small laugh, though it bordered dangerously close to a cry. "Mallory!" He ran up to her, hugging her tightly.

"You okay, kiddo?"

He sniffed in response, but weakly replied with, "Yeah."

Wildwing had gone back to help Nosedive up, making sure the teenager kept his wounded arm close to his body, to prevent further aggravating the injury. Together, the two brothers walked over to the rest of the group.

Duke, the last one to join the team, couldn't take his eyes off the empty space along the far side of the room, where the portal had originally formed. The wall and floor around it was stripped of most of its drywall and tiles, respectively, and the generator behind it was a dilapidated mess of what it used to be.

Looking behind him, the gray mallard could see the direction of the pull, giant u-shaped holes in at least three or four laboratory benches, all lining the path to ground zero. A majority of the equipment from inside the room was gone.

He startled out of his distant observation when Nosedive came up next to him, placing his good hand on the ex-thief's shoulder. He smirked at the youngest team member, though it was forced.

"Where's the Aerowing?" Wildwing spoke up, kneeling next to Tanya.

"O-on the roof."

The leader nodded, tuning back around. "Duke, Mallory, go get the stretcher." Wildwing pressed a button on the side of his Mask, scanning the large gray duck. "No serious injuries, at least from what the Mask can see."

More silence lingered, the aftermath of the event weighing heavily in everyone's minds. Quiet but hurried footsteps echoed as Duke and Mallory left the laboratory to retrieve the stretcher.

* * *

Both ducks were silent as they made their way up to the roof of the building, one occasionally grimacing while holding their side, the other stiffly checking their shoulder every once in a while.

"Quite a day," Duke finally said, more to fill the silence than anything.

"That's putting it lightly," Mallory snorted in response.

"You doin' okay?"

"Yup. You?"

"Yep."

They were silent again, reaching the spacious veranda through one of the back staircases meant as a fire exit. Duke inadvertently whistled in appreciation as they walked across the decorative floor, the double-helix chandelier above them glistening against the dark sky outside.

"You—" Mallory started out of nowhere, then stopped abruptly. She let out a terse sigh and continued more hesitantly with, "You think we'll still be able to go home?"

Duke glanced to his side at her, pulling open one of the multiple glass doors lining the entrance to the outdoor balcony. "Dunno. If anyone can figure it out d'ough, it's Tanya and Buzz."

"Hmm," she noncommittally replied. They walked up the stairs once more, the outline of the Aerowing shining against fluorescent search lights that illuminated the roof. A cool breeze had wafted through the desert as evening descended, dropping the temperature. The world outside was quiet and solemn, a stark contrast to the events that had occurred inside earlier.

"I wonder if Falcone and Lucretia survived," she said out loud, though her eyes were on the expanse of flatland before them. Duke opened up the back hatch of the plane to clamber onboard.

"Dunno," he eventually repeated.

"And if they did, where they went," she added, following him inside.

The gray mallard glanced at her, pressing a button to release the built-in stretcher. She was not paying much attention to their task at hand, staring out into the empty horizon beyond.

"I suppose when it's between that and a life behind bars, though…"

Duke, despite his best attempts, felt himself flinch at that one word. When he pulled the stretcher out and looked to Mallory for assistance, he found her staring at him.

"That's it then, isn't it?"

He feigned ignorance. "What's it?"

She crossed her arms. "That's what's been bothering you. Going home."

He sighed, motioning her to help with the stretcher. When she did and they began to wheel it down, he finally admitted, "Not gonna lie, not exactly expectin' a welcomin' party."

"You were pardoned, Duke."

"Yeah, durin' a time o' war, Mal. You t'ink d'at stuff was recorded somewhere?" He hadn't meant to snap, but it came out more forcefully than he intended. "I mean, Puckworld must still exist, to bring Falcone outta da woodwork, but who knows what it's like d'here, now ... right?"

"You were pardoned," she restated, though it did not come out as confidently as before. "I'll vouch for it. It'll be fine."

"Look who's talkin'."

She didn't answer him right away. As they made their way down the stairs, carrying the stretcher, the redhead didn't have much choice but to stare at Duke holding the other side. He arched an eyebrow at her expectantly, which made her turn away in annoyance.

"And if I'm not," he continued poignantly, "I guarantee you I won't stick around to be put behin' bars. And that means I'll be puttin' her— ...I'll be givin' up everything 'ere."

Without missing a beat, Mallory caught his word fumble and interjected with, "You mean you'd be giving up Tanya."

He sighed. His infatuation with the blonde duck was well-known among the team, as well as her continual rejections. "She was a part of the biggest engineering company in Puckworld before da Invasion—her inventions alone here on Earth would prolly make her a millionaire back home."

"She doesn't care about that," the commando retorted easily, a comment that Duke reluctantly agreed with. They pressed a button on the elevator within the veranda, waiting for the doors to open.

"She'd probably follow you, you know."

That made Duke snort. "Ha! Come on."

"She's just scared," she argued. "She's head over heels for you."

His sharp laugh turned into a chuckle. "Mal'ly, I don't think you understand what kind of life a thief leads. I don't want to go back to it, and—e'en if d'at were true—I definitely don't want Tanya to ever be forced inta it, either."

"We won't let them. Not without a fight, at least."

Duke did genuinely smile at that. "Glad to know I've finally won yer trust, Mal."

Mallory smirked as the elevator doors dinged open and they made their way inside. "You won it long ago, Duke. I was just too quick to assume betrayal."

The gray mallard cleared his throat slightly, nodding in approval, and pressed the button to take them back to their floor. "Hey, Mal?"

Mallory glanced over at him.

"Talk ta Wing. He's worried about you."

The redhead's demeanor quickly changed, her previous attitude overshadowed with an unknown expression.

When she didn't answer immediately, Duke carefully added, "I been d'ere. We all have. It's about d'at trust, right?"

Mallory broke eye contact, her hand clenching the stretcher tightly as the elevator dinged again. They slowly wheeled the contraption out into the hallway, towards the laboratory, before she answered him quietly, "I'm okay, Duke."

"Sure you are," Duke responded knowingly, his voice uncharacteristically calm and serious. "But it helps."

He was in front this time, and turned back to her long enough to see the hint of a nod. They didn't speak for the rest of the trip.

* * *

"So is that it, then?"

Wildwing and Tanya glanced up at Nosedive, who had stepped forward. His eyes had travelled to one of the computers on the control station, where the external device had been. Following his gaze, it became apparent about what he meant, as the hard drive that had been used to copy the coordinates of their homeworld was nothing more than a charred, broken piece of machinery, now.

Tanya shakily stood up, walking over to it and unplugging its cabling. She turned it around in her hand, popping open its chassis, while Buzz approached the transporter on the other side of the terminal.

"Tell me that we still can go home," the teenager added weakly when no one said anything.

The scientist's fingers pulled wiring out from the inside of the device, only to watch in dismay as it crumpled to ash between her fingers.

"The transporter is functional," Buzz said before Tanya could reply to Nosedive's plead. The boy held up the red device in all its notoriety, showing that it had not been damaged in the last explosion that had erupted.

"So we can use that—?"

"No," Tanya interrupted, her eyes transfixed on the broken equipment in her hands. "I erased everything."

"What?" Nosedive asked, sounding incredulous.

"It's okay, we—"

"No it's not," she cut off, her voice rising with anger. "The coordinates are—are _gone_."

"Tany—"

"The g-generator is destroyed!" she yelled, her arms exaggeratedly pointing to it. "And I—I wiped the data, to stop V-Viper, so now it's all g-gone!"

A hand found its way to Tanya's arm, and she pulled herself away from it out of anger before realizing where it had come from.

Wildwing shook his head. "Tanya, what are you talking about?"

The blonde duck, with tears dotting the edges of her eyes, waltzed up to Buzz and yanked the transporter out of his hands. "_This!_" she hollered, waving it in the air at the leader. "Puckworld is _gone_!"

"She means that she erased the coordinates," Buzz explained, after having crossed his arms in annoyance from Tanya's steal. "She duplicated the data for the past, and overwrote all the other gateways." His head nodded at the T-shaped device that Tanya had a death grip on. "So when Viper used it, he may have thought he was going to the future, but he ended up going back where he belonged."

"So Viper didn't escape, after all," Wildwing concluded. "…But we lost our way home, in the process." His voice sounded wearier as realization settled in.

"Th-they had copied the data," Tanya tried to explain, holding up the other item in her hand. Bits of burnt pieces crumbled away as she did so. "It was _here_, right _here. _I saw it, w-when I was setting up the g-gateway for them. I—I wouldn't have deleted it, if I kn-knew … b-but now it's…"

"…Gone?" Buzz offered to complete the sentence, cringing slightly.

"I d-destroyed our chance to g-go home," the blonde duck murmured, her hands falling to her sides in utter defeat, broken drive in one and the transporter in the other. "W-we were so _close_…"

Nosedive, holding onto his wounded arm, took a hesitant step forward. "Taunny, you saved us."

Wildwing nodded in agreement. "You did. You stopped Viper." He paused, his eyes travelling to the broken generator that still coughed out puffs of smoke. "You did what you had to do."

"Man, you guys act like it's the end of the world," Buzz dryly commented, hands going to his hips. The others stared at him in shock.

"Buzz," Wildwing warned.

"What? I'm sorry, but you just saved the world—_again—_and all you can do is wallow about a broken hard drive."

Nosedive glared at him. "Alright, kid—"

"Besides," Buzz interrupted, pretending to polish his nails against his shirt, "no matter how many times I tell you guys, you always seem to forget that it only takes a few seconds of reading."

He glanced up at them, a smirk on his face, but his expression soured when he saw three very confused ducks staring back at him.

Buzz sighed and tapped his head. "Eidetic memory, remember?"

Tanya seemed to be the first one to click back into awareness. "Wait … you … _memorized _t-the coordinates to Puckworld?!"

The boy smiled and nodded.

"Wait, what?" Nosedive asked the room. "What does that even mean?"

The blonde scientist did not answer him, but instead let out a barking laugh, running up and hugging the kid like he might disappear if she let go.

"Mmmf!" was all Buzz could get out.

Nosedive looked to Wildwing with an arched eyebrow, ready to repeat the question, when he noticed his own brother grinning broadly.

"Did I miss the memo?" he finally questioned. Wildwing glanced over at him, smile still planted on his beak, and walked up to him to wrap an arm around his shoulders.

"Dive, we _are_ going home."

The teenager's eyes darted back to Tanya—who had yet to release Buzz—and back to his older brother. He was clearly unsure. "You … really?"

"Well," Buzz interrupted, rather muffled from Tanya's stronghold on him, "there are a few, um, repairs that need to be done to the gateway generator to get it back up and running, of course."

The boy let out a gasping, relieved breath when the engineer in Tanya sparked to life and she suddenly released her grip to study the destroyed equipment. "Yeah, th-that will take some time," she admitted. "We also need to, uh, st-stabilize the beryllium a bit better."

Buzz nodded, and now both of the scientists walked up to the generator, scrutinizing it. "It needs a way to cycle the energy out, or somewhere, if it gets too strong."

"You're right. Maybe a sec-secondary generator?"

"That's a great idea! We just need to—"

"WAIT!"

Buzz and Tanya—and Wildwing—all jumped at the outburst, staring with wide eyes at Nosedive. He had his good hand on his hip, and stepped forward towards the others.

Unfortunately, he forgot about a certain someone on the floor, and ended up lightly kicking Grin against the side of the head.

A groan instantly erupted from the pacifist, stopping Nosedive's tirade before it even began, and the teenager looked down in guilty surprise as Grin slowly lifted his hand up to rub the side of his noggin.

"Grinster!"

Wildwing was the first to react, kneeling down next to the big duck. "Grin, you okay?"

The big duck let out a grunt in affirmation, but did manage to give Nosedive a small glare, one that the teenager sheepishly waved at in response. Wildwing helped Grin sit up, keeping an arm on his back for support.

"Easy there, big fella."

"Yeah, you uh, g-got bathed in some intense b-beryllium energy, there."

"I wonder if that's relatable to electrical current?" Buzz asked. "I mean, when you think about it, the energy does behave like a—"

"Wait wait wait," Nosedive interrupted again, his arm moving exaggeratedly through the air, "enough with the science talk!" He harrumphed indignantly, then cleared his throat when he saw that everyone—including Grin—was staring at him.

"So, just to confirm, the coordinates home got charred—"

"—yes, but—"

"—ah ah!" the teenager held a finger up, scolding the interruption like a true hypocrite. "As I was saying, the coordinates home got charred; BUT," and with some wild pointing at Buzz, he continued, "_you_ somehow managed to memorize them beforehand."

Buzz, to his credit, quietly nodded but did not say anything further.

"NOW," Nosedive stated obnoxiously loud, attention back on the generator, "we have to rebuild this thing from scratch, but bigger and better—and I guess with less explosions—before we can attempt to go home once more."

This time Nosedive turned to Tanya, who nodded dumbly but smartly stayed silent.

"And YOU," the young team member glared down at Grin, "just had to go and save the world with your weird supernatural strength _again_, didn't you?"

Grin was still rubbing the side of his head and only frowned in response.

"Um, and sorry, about the kick to the head."

"Indeed."

There was a long beat of silence as the rest of the team watched Nosedive for the point, or conclusion, to his diatribe. The young duck sniffed, pretending to wipe a tear away from the corner of his eye with his good hand.

"This is, like, the best-worst day of my life."

Wildwing frowned worriedly at him. "You okay there, Baby Bro?"

The duck in question let out a big, deep breath, apparently finding his mini-monologue cathartic. He sniffed again, with a bit more realism this time around.

"We're … we're going _home_." The teen opened his arms wide at Buzz. "You … you are like the most awesome, weirdest little nerd!"

Buzz raised an eyebrow. "Thanks … I think?"

When he made no move to approach Nosedive, the teenager opted to close the distance himself, scooping the kid up for another bear hug that Buzz (reluctantly) accepted.

"GROUP HUG!"

Nosedive pulled his small prisoner towards Grin—who was still sitting on the floor—and motioned Wildwing and Tanya to join.

The leader sighed but accepted the invitation, while Tanya happily joined the group for the embrace.

It was at that moment that Duke and Mallory returned to the room with the stretcher, staring at the scene rather disbelievingly.

"We, uh, miss somethin'?"


	16. Remembering Tomorrow

_Note: This pulls some info from another short story of mine (the chapter on Duke from "Through Their Eyes") but is not necessarily needed to understand what's going on. Also, lots of fluff for a not-so-fluffy week. I regret nothing. And thank you to those that faved/reviewed/read! It's great to know there are still MD fans out there. :D_

* * *

_The Pond_

Tanya checked the Medicom for the umpteenth time, glancing at Nosedive and Grin who were both fast asleep on separate cots. She read the information for the respective machines on one monitor, ensuring everything (and everyone) was stable, then let out a tired sigh as she sat back down on a nearby stool.

Duke and Mallory had been forced by Wildwing to also return to Medicoms when the ducks got back, to complete the repairs that they had interrupted earlier. Thankfully, neither required too much more therapy in that regard, as they both finished approximately an hour ago and received clean bills of health.

Klegghorn had been not too pleased with the aftermath of the demolished building in the middle of downtown Santa Anna—not to mention the equivalent of a nuclear bomb nearly going off in Joshua Tree National Park—but he let up on his hounding when he learned about it all belonging to Phineas Viper.

Now, hours later, Tanya was ensuring that their injured team members were taken care of accordingly. Wildwing had assisted her in the beginning, but had been forced to go to Anaheim's police station to file official reports on the ducks' involvement in both incidents.

Well, that, and to make sure Buzz's company was allowed to retrieve the ducks' stolen generator. Or what was left of it, at least.

All in all, it had been a really long, weird day.

The door to the medbay hissed open, and Tanya glanced up with a frown when she saw Duke entering with two steaming cups of tea.

"Duke," she lightly admonished, "you should be, uh, sleeping."

He shrugged in response and offered her a mug, which she gratefully took nonetheless. The ex-thief was freshly showered, and was dressed casually in pants and a button-down long-sleeved shirt.

It was almost strange seeing him in something other than battlegear, or in whatever might have been considered the fashion-norm of Puckworld. Tanya had never really kept up with the latest fashion trends to know for sure, of course. Though, she did suppose that finding style equivalents on Earth probably got harder as the months had passed being stranded here.

"How are d'ey doing?" the gray mallard quietly interrupted her digressive thoughts, taking a sip of his drink and eyeing Nosedive and Grin.

"Pretty, uh, good," she answered. "Nosedive will be d-done in the, um, morning, with his arm. Grin, uh, had a lot of in-internal injuries, though. M-minor, but enough to re-require monitoring for a-another day or two."

Duke nodded, leaning against the computer desk Tanya's stool rested near. "An' what about you?"

"Hmm?" Tanya asked absently, holding her teacup with both hands. She glanced over at him and startled out of her drifting thoughts again. "I'm fine."

"Are you?"

"I … I mean, I guess?" she tried instead, sighing half the questionable statement out.

His hand came up and rubbed her arm reassuringly. "She was still yer family."

The ex-thief's uncanny ability to read others never ceased to amaze Tanya, but she supposed she was wearing her emotions on her sleeve a lot more these days. She felt her eyes glaze over, despite her attempts to stop it, and glanced back at the monitor to distract herself.

Even as she looked at the information on the screen, however, all she could see was Lucretia flying into the portal, her gut-wrenching scream looping in her mind.

"She was a tr-traitor," she finally stated, as if that fact alone should debunk her feelings.

"And I was a thief," Duke reasoned easily. "Falcone was, too."

The scientist sighed. "Buzz said he, uh, did m-manage to re-redirect the gateway." She was silent for a moment, unable to make eye contact as she read the Medicom's updates for what felt like the hundredth time. "He doesn't know where, though, and doesn't know if it, y'know, c-connected before—before…"

"Before it exploded," Duke finished for her, gently.

Tanya's eyes closed sharply, the threat of tears harder to control. "I _shouldn't_ be mour—mourning for her, Duke, but I _am_."

There was a small _clink_ from Duke placing his mug down on the desk, followed by him gently reaching over to take her tea, as well. She watched him place it down next to his own cup, before pulling her into a hug, one of his arms encircling her back and the other brushing through her bushy hair. With her height, her head easily rested against his shoulder.

It took a couple seconds, but she eventually relaxed into his hold, returning the embrace.

"You 'ave every right ta grieve," Duke mumbled near her. "Don't let anyone tell ya differently." He let out a big breath, his hug inexplicably tightening around her. "Family makes ya do weird t'ings, sometimes."

The blonde duck stiffened a little, but didn't release her grip. Her mind rewound back to a revolution ago, when she had watched—via video footage—Duke talk to an imprisoned Falcone. The Raptrin boasted about having the coordinates home, and that he had hidden the device somewhere. He planned to give it to the ducks, but only in exchange for his freedom after returning to Puckworld.

Duke had of course said no, only agreeing to take Falcone back to their home world, where he could live the rest of his days behind bars for his extensive treason. And yet … a foreign language had been used between the two … one that Tanya had never heard before. Brotherhood of the Blade lingo, according to the ex-thief.

In present time, she hesitated in his arms before finally speaking out loud, "You were g-gonna help Falcone escape, then?"

There was a long beat of silence, with enough interlaced tension that Tanya almost drew away, before the gray mallard shook his head and—to his benefit—chuckled lightly. "I knew you'd be able ta decipher that language on da videotape."

"It wasn't, uh, hard."

"It wasn't meant ta be."

His calm demeanor at her admission made Tanya smile, too, and she relaxed again knowing that Duke wasn't mad at her for decrypting what the two Blade members had discussed.

She did pull away, though, enough to peer up at him. "He saved your life, s-so you had to repay the favor?"

"I didn't have ta," Duke corrected, glancing back at the sleeping ducks across the way. "But that's what it means ta be in da Brotherhood. Honor is hard ta come by d'ese days." His gaze returned to Tanya, the hand in her hair coming down to rub her shoulder. "So you knew all along and didn' tell anyone?"

Tanya smirked. "You hadn't, uh, done anything yet. …Besides," she looked away with slight embarrassment, "like you said—uh, family makes you do weird things."

His hand stopped caressing her shoulder, and instead came up to pull her face back towards him. She felt her breath hitch when they made eye contact again, and felt herself melt into his arms when he bent down to lightly kiss her.

When he pulled back, she whispered, "Yes."

He arched an eyebrow. "Yes? Yes what?"

Her grin grew. "Yes, t-to that date."

Duke laughed.

* * *

_One day later – the Pond_

In her quarters' bathroom, Mallory used the mirror on the medicine cabinet door, opening it at enough of an angle so she could see the bandage on her lower back. While the gunshot wound had entered through her left side, its exit was where most of the tissue damage had occurred.

She carefully pried the adhesive off, hissing a little as it pulled on feathers that were barely beginning to grow back along the area.

Successfully removing it, she studied the mostly-healed wound as Tanya had instructed, making sure no signs of infection were appearing around the thin scars.

Satisfied, Mallory tossed the dirty bandage into the trash and pulled out a fresh one from one of the open cabinet's shelves. She grabbed the antiseptic and medicated ointment Tanya had supplied her, as well, placing them on the countertop next to her lightweight button-up. She carefully readjusted the camisole she was wearing to keep it from rubbing against the site, before grabbing some gauze and soaking it with the cleaning solution.

As she put the bottle back on the counter, her eyes caught the gleam of her emerald engagement ring on her left hand, making her pause in her actions.

A sigh escaped involuntarily, but she forced herself to focus on the task at hand. She stood up straighter and tried to twist her torso enough to see the wound on her lower side. A mild groan escaped from the movement, the stiffness in her repaired muscles still readily apparent.

Her hand with the wet gauze fumbled as it tried to pat the area, her teeth grinding at the stinging sensation it produced.

She was supposed to do it two or three times, but she could only hold the position for a few seconds before the pain from twisting became too much to bear. She let out an annoyed breath, throwing the dirty gauze into the sink out of aggravation.

"Mallory?"

The redhead did not turn around, but looked up in the reflection of the mirror to see Wildwing standing in the doorway of the restroom, his eyes watching her with concern.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she said, hands resting on the edge of the counter. "Just hard to turn, still."

Wildwing took a couple steps closer, his eyes never leaving hers through the mirror's glass. "You want me to help?"

There was an uncomfortable—almost strained—pause as they looked at one another, but Mallory eventually nodded to his simple offer of assistance.

He broke eye contact with her, then, instead closing the distance to grab the other tube Mallory had placed on the counter. He opened the cap, squirting some of the translucent ointment into one of his hands.

"Here," he said quietly, his palm outstretched and waiting for her.

Mallory's gaze fell before she turned away from him, giving him access to the wound. He gently grasped the back of her shoulder with his clean hand, and used his other to tenderly massage the ointment into the scar tissue. It was cold, but did not hurt like the antiseptic, and helped to soothe the itching that was an unfortunate part of the healing process.

Mallory peered back up through the mirror to watch him, her brow furrowing from a silent debate inside her head. Wildwing must've felt her eyes on him and looked up to meet her stare.

"Too rough?" he asked softly.

Mallory shook her head. "No. It's helping," she answered.

He only nodded in response.

"Wildwing—"

"It's all right," he cut her off.

"No, it's not," she retorted, pulling away from his touch and turning to face him. "I'm sorry I snapped at you the other day—"

"It's my fault, I was pushing you," he interjected again, shaking his head.

"Wildwing!" Mallory exclaimed in frustration, shoving her camisole back down and forgetting about bandaging the wound. "Please let me say this, before I lose the courage to do so."

The leader was finally silenced.

Having her ground to speak, Mallory suddenly felt herself go speechless. She looked down, each breath becoming a bit shakier. "You haven't been pushy. I'm … I'm just not very good at this sort of thing."

He didn't respond. As they stood facing one another, Mallory's hands clenched closed then opened anxiously, her eyes searching the bathroom for answers that weren't there. When the silence lingered longer than necessary, Wildwing cautiously placed his arm around her shoulders, guiding her over to the bed to sit down.

The redhead was rigid, her back straight and her hands still nervously wringing fingers as they rested in her lap. Wildwing stayed sitting next to her, his close presence both familiar and comforting.

Her breath was still shaky as she tried to find the words, staring at the ground in front of her. "My dreams … are about my dad."

Wildwing remained silent, but his brow furrowed as he watched and listened to her.

"It's usually about arguments we had. He never wanted me to join the Forces, because he didn't think I was strong enough. My brothers supported my decision, which just made him angrier."

She took another deep breath. "When … when I was seventeen, we were on the base and he had found out about my application to the Academy. He was furious. I … I don't remember what triggered it, but something I said sent him over the edge, and he told me that I was a cruel sight to him."

She cleared her throat, briefly glancing at the ceiling as she felt the burn behind her eyes. Wildwing's hand found one of hers, squeezing it reassuringly.

"I didn't even understand what he had meant," she muttered, her gaze returning to the floor, "until my brother Benjamin told me later. He said that Dad was ... that I looked just like my mom."

"Mal—"

"I stopped trying then," she interrupted him, still not making eye contact. "I was still going to prove myself, but not to my father. Not anymore."

She swallowed hard. "But … no matter how the dream starts … it always ends with me and him in the Guardian as it's crashing, the day he died. Sometimes it plays out just like it happened: the War has just begun, the ship is hit and can't be autopiloted, so he orders everyone to evacuate. I try to get him to escape too, but he tells me he has a duty to fulfill by steering the ship away from the city. And he orders me to jump out too, never really giving me the chance to say goodbye."

Mallory paused, and her voice tightened a little when she continued. "But sometimes … he shoves me to the controls and tells me that this is all I could ever amount to. That … if I want to make him happy, this is how I should die. And just like that he leaves, and I'm left in the ship, trying to steer it away. My dad brought it down into the bay, but somehow when I try I'm not strong enough. I'm unable to … and it crashes into thousands of … right into the heart of the city."

A small sniff escaped before she could stop it, and protective arms suddenly wrapped around her, an embrace that the redhead dissolved into.

"I'm sorry," she finally got out, muffled from his chest.

"Please don't be—"

"I _do_ trust you," she continued over him, "and I should've told you about these stupid dreams a lot sooner."

"They're not stupid dreams, they're nightmares, Mallory. I understand why it was so hard for you … I shouldn't have pushed you the way I did, but … I'm glad you told me."

She let out another deep exhale, her face still pressed against Wildwing's chest. "I'm scared to return home," she hesitantly confessed. "I went AWOL for this mission, and more than anything I … I just want to prove myself to my brothers." She let out a sharp, albeit trembling sigh. "If they're even still alive."

His head was resting on hers, so she felt rather than saw him shake it in disagreement. "You don't need to prove yourself to anyone, Mallory. You're the bravest and strongest duck I've ever met. What your dad said to you … he was taking stuff out on you that he shouldn't have." He loosened his arms around her, just enough to bend down and nuzzle his beak against hers. "I'm always going to be here for you, you know that; right?"

"I know," she admitted. She gave him a sarcastic smile when she added, "But I'll still probably be discharged for marrying you."

The leader hummed. "We saved the world, so I doubt that. And besides," Wildwing's expression softened into a warm smile, "Duke is a former thief, I have no business or official training to be a captain, and we won't even get into having a minor on the team."

Mallory laughed lightly.

"See?" he added. "So I think they'll have their hands full, regardless."

Still smiling, the redhead squeezed the white drake tighter around the waist. "I love you."

He returned the tight hug. "I love you, too."

* * *

_Two weeks later – Unbridled Technologies headquarters_

"Buzz, are you sure?" Mallory asked outside of the giant mansion the boy called home.

"Definitely, Mal. I know you think they're awful, but … I mean, who else would ever give me an unlimited allowance to create a new element?" He smiled sheepishly at her, glancing up at the large building on top of the hill.

Mallory sighed, following his gaze. "But what about the normal stuff? I mean, you can't talk to Fritz about personal things."

"Well, that's why I have you and the rest of the team as friends!"

The redhead relented with a small smile, looking back at the twelve-year-old boy. "You can talk to me anytime about anything, and don't forget that."

Buzz quickly closed the distance between them, hugging Mallory around the waist. She grunted at the newly applied pressure to her midsection.

"Easy kiddo, it's still a bit tender." Nonetheless, she wrapped her arms around the boy gratefully.

Buzz looked up at her and grinned. "Thanks for the comics and burger today."

Mallory laughed. "You're welcome. Hadn't had much of a chance to hang out with you, lately."

"Well, _someone_ had to go and get married!" he teased, earning himself a roll of the eyes. More seriously he said, "Plus, Tanya and I have been gunning it to try and get the generator back up and running. The manmade beryllium production is in full swing now, too, so I really think it'll be just a few more months!"

"I have no doubt," the commando concurred, her hands resting on her hips. "And this time, we already got the most important part."

She was referring to the transporter and the coordinates home, but something she said made Buzz inadvertently lose his grin.

Mallory frowned at his sudden shift in demeanor, but before she could ask, he pensively explained, "That whole day still gets to me."

"Hey," Mallory lightly scolded, kneeling down in front of him. "You're okay. _I'm_ okay. Viper and Fortaineau are gone."

The boy guiltily looked away. "But you got shot and almost _died_ because of me."

"No," she corrected sternly, a hand coming up to his shoulder, "I got shot because some crazy man obsessed with world domination fired a gun at me. It unfortunately comes with the hero package."

Buzz smirked a little at the redhead, his previous pout slowly dissipating. "Does getting the leader also come with that?"

Mallory playfully swatted his arm. "You're hanging out with Dive too much."

Buzz, rubbing the spot she hit, grinned mischievously. "It's not my fault you're not into comics!"

"Yeah, yeah," Mallory replied good-naturedly. She stood back up, ruffling Buzz's hair in the process. "Just remember, we're only a button away." Mallory pointed to her COM, a similar one on Buzz's wrist.

Buzz saluted her. "Yes, Mrs. Flashblade!"

Mallory shook her head exasperatedly. "Get home, short-stuff. If I remember correctly, you have an essay to write for History."

"Aww, Mal!" the boy whined as he grabbed his bag of new comics from the nearby duckcycle. "I'm a child prodigy! I make formulas and elements and super-charged particles for experimental physics!"

"But your history stinks, and you still need to graduate high school."

Buzz groaned but complied with a nod. He ran up and gave Mallory one last quick hug before heading inside with a wave.

The redhead watched him until he disappeared into the mansion, sighing to herself before returning to the duckcycle. As she put on her helmet, she flipped open her COM, bringing up the schematics for the new security system installed at Unbridled Technologies.

After Buzz's kidnapping and the boy's persistence to remain with the company, Mallory insisted on a security system designed by Tanya, accessible from Drake One. That way, should anything breach the system, the ducks would be the first to know.

She flipped her COM closed, satisfied at seeing the system running smoothly, and revved the engine of her bike, heading back to the Pond.

Fortaineau and Viper were gone, yes, but Mallory had no doubt that there were plenty of other dirty companies itching to get their hands on an element that could create crystals powerful enough to run ships like the Raptor…

…Not to mention power a wormhole to another dimension.

Things had only begun to unravel from Buzz's new invention, of that she was sure.

But she was ready.

* * *

_Ten months later – the Pond_

Tanya diligently studied the readouts as quickly as her printer shot them out. She picked up each piece of paper, scanning the various graphs and recordings of mechanical gibberish, occasionally humming in affirmation. As she finished each paper, she carelessly tossed it aside, letting it float to the ground.

Beneath her, a graveyard of discarded papers had piled up, making it hard to see the floor of her laboratory.

She never noticed the door to the hallway hissing open and Duke walking in, his purposeful stride stopped short upon observing the state of the workshop.

"Tanya?" he asked quizzically. He took a couple steps towards her when she didn't respond, trying his best to avoid the papers scattered everywhere.

She continued to read the printouts, though now she was intermittently typing away on the computer next her.

"Taun?" Duke called to her again, finally traversing the pile of documents and reaching the lab bench. "Tanya!"

She still didn't respond, her focus on the task at hand making her completely oblivious to her surroundings. Duke sighed; it wasn't the first time, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

He couldn't walk around the bench to reach her, either. The computer she was typing on, as well as the printer next to it, had about a dozen cords exuding from them to the rather large (and newly rebuilt) gateway generator across the room. The cords literally barricaded Tanya in, unless you pulled a spy move to slip through them.

Granted, as a master ex-thief this was not implausible for Duke. But he opted for another tactic instead.

"SAURIANS!"

The blonde scientist jumped about a foot, her hand accidentally hitting the printer's tray and causing sheets of paper to fly up into the air like confetti.

She turned around to the gray mallard, who couldn't help but grin sheepishly.

"Duke!" she yelled in frustration, quickly attempting to pluck papers out of the air as they slowly glided to the ground.

"Sorry Angel, but d'ere wasn't anyone 'ome a minute ago."

Tanya, still flustered as she gathered her papers, placed the messy pile on her desk. "I'm just, y'know, t-triple-checking everything."

Duke sighed, resting his forearms on the lab bench and leaning against them. "Aw, come on Taunny, everything's gonna go just fine."

"I'm sure it is, but—but I just want to make sure."

"When's da last time you ate?" Duke asked, changing the subject.

Tanya turned to look at him, opened her beak to answer, but stopped when she realized she had to think about it.

"See? Angel, come on—let me take you out fer our last night on Earth."

Tanya smiled, a blush slowly creeping up through her feathers. "I just—I just want to do one more mock run-through—"

"—which can be done after we get back," Duke insisted. He leaned forward even more and smiled at her. "Come on Taunny, I've hardly seen you da past few days."

Tanya sighed, crossing her arms. "That's because we've all been getting r—ready to leave."

"Lemme see your hand," Duke changed the subject again, holding out his own to her.

"What?"

Duke didn't respond, but kept his hand out to her expectantly. She looked down at it and back at him before reluctantly taking a step forward to place her hand in his outstretched one.

Before she knew what was happening, Duke reached over with his other hand, pulling her up and across the table. In one swift move, he slid her over and caught her in his arms.

"Duke!" she shrieked, though she couldn't help but smile.

"I'm not takin' no fer an answer, Angel. We're goin' out and d'at's final!"

Papers continued to settle across the strewn laboratory, with Tanya's laugh echoing into the hallway as the doors hissed shut.

_fin_


End file.
